Mercedes Admits Power Unit Troubles In Bahrain Slowed Their Pace By Half a Second

The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, asserted after the end of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix that his team lost a lot of time because of the issues his drivers had to manage.

Mercedes F1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and George finished Saturday's race around the Bahrain International Circuit in P7 and P5.

Hamilton improved two positions compared to his qualifying (P9), and Russell lost two positions as he started from third place on the grid.

The qualifying session wasn't the best for the seven-time World Champion, but it was suggested that Silver Arrows set up their cars for the race so they should be stronger on Saturday.

However, looking at the results, it didn't exactly turn out the way the German team might have hoped. Russell finished 46.788 seconds behind Max Verstappen, and Hamilton finished 50.324 seconds behind.

Unlike Red Bull, both Mercedes drivers managed different issues that slowed them down. The 39-year-old had problems with his battery, overheating brakes, and a broken seat, while the 25-year-old struggled with the overheating power unit.

The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, wasn't sure right after the race exactly how much time his drivers lost. But, as reported by lastwordonsports.com, he later put into numbers how much time the overheating issue would lose his drivers.

Six tenths per lap would equal a 34.2-second difference over the race distance of 57 laps in Bahrain. This difference would move both Mercedes drivers into P2 and P3.

However, they didn't have the problem throughout the whole race, so in reality, it would have been less than that. Nevertheless, Wolff hinted that Mercedes had a car that could match the pace of Ferrari and maybe even Sergio Perez if everything went smoothly.