{"id":45863,"date":"2026-06-25T14:03:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/45863\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T14:03:22","slug":"mercedes-to-introduce-f1-engine-fixes-in-austria-after-kimi-antonellis-barcelona-gp-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/45863\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes to introduce F1 engine fixes in Austria after Kimi Antonelli\u2019s Barcelona GP retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kimi Antonelli<\/a> has detailed what caused his Barcelona Grand Prix retirement and that Mercedes<\/a> is set to introduce measures to solve its Formula 1 power unit unreliability from the Austrian GP.<\/p>\n

During an Italian media interview at the Red Bull Ring,\u00a0Antonelli confirmed that he will run a new power unit paired with an updated battery pack featuring several corrective measures made by Mercedes following its recent breakdowns \u2013 something team boss Toto Wolff said the team must fix if it wants to fight for the world titles.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issues had actually surfaced some time ago,\u201d Antonelli explained. \u201cI already had some trouble in FP1 in Miami, and then came George\u2019s retirement in Montreal. We\u2019ve left quite a few points on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonelli explained the issue that ended his Barcelona race three laps from the finish wasn\u2019t strictly temperature\u2011related: \u201cIt\u2019s true that a component suddenly experienced a sharp temperature spike, which caused the battery to glitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in Canada the conditions were completely different, much cooler.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercedes has introduced a series of software updates and minor hardware tweaks to the battery pack, but as Antonelli pointed out, these are routine reliability measures and have no connection to the ADUO.<\/p>\n

\"Andrea <\/p>\n

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes<\/p>\n

Photo by: Steven Tee \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mercedes drivers will only fight if rivals are behind<\/p>\n

Among the other topics discussed in Mercedes\u2019 post-Barcelona debrief was strategy. Within the paddock some questioned whether Mercedes made a strategy error not opting for a three\u2011stop race like Ferrari<\/a> did with winner Lewis Hamilton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnically, going for three pitstops would have been possible. But in our simulations, the two\u2011stop strategy still came out slightly faster. We also have to remember that these calculations assume we\u2019re always running in clean air. In the race itself, there are far more variables to take into account,” Antonelli explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a different story, however, to the point raised by Wolff immediately after the chequered flag in Barcelona. The Mercedes team principal noted that the time lost in the direct wheel\u2011to\u2011wheel fight between Russell and Antonelli had been far from ideal for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a meeting on the matter, and Toto was very clear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we find ourselves in a situation like Barcelona again, under pressure from our rivals, there will be a team order, especially if one of the two cars is showing better pace. If, on the other hand, we\u2019re fighting each other without pressure from another team, we\u2019ll be free to race, just as we were in Montreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

With four rounds in five weeks coming up, it marks a crucial stretch of the season before the summer break.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Andrea <\/p>\n

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sam Bloxham \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI think these are all tracks where our car should adapt well,\u201d Antonelli concluded. \u201cSo far, we\u2019ve mainly struggled on circuits with older asphalt and low grip. From that point of view, the Red Bull Ring should be more favourable than Barcelona, even though we\u2019re expecting very high temperatures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very demanding track for the car, from the brakes to the engine, especially since the altitude reduces the amount of available oxygen. In that sense as well, having a fresh power unit is definitely good news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

We want your opinion!<\/p>\n

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?<\/p>\n

Take our 5 minute survey.<\/a><\/p>\n

– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kimi Antonelli has detailed what caused his Barcelona Grand Prix retirement and that Mercedes is set to introduce…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[17799,20185,92,20651,315,17798,17797,20709],"class_list":["post-45863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-austrian-gp","tag-barcelona","tag-f1-austrian-grand-prix","tag-formula-1","tag-george-russell","tag-mercedes","tag-mercedes-to-introduce-f1-engine-fixes-in-austria-after-kimi-antonelliu2019s-barcelona-gp-retirement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}