Mercedes: No concern on Hamilton engine after Russian GP worry

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has dismissed fears around Lewis Hamilton’s current power unit after suffering power hesitation issues during the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton complained over his team radio about inconsistent power delivery from his Mercedes engine in Sochi which the team tightly monitored throughout the Russian race.

The reigning Formula 1 world champion completed the Sochi race without any lasting problems, having been allowed to pass Valtteri Bottas to take victory following team orders, and Mercedes has undertaken a full mechanical analysis of his engine which highlighted a mapping issue.

“This isn't really a concern,” Shovlin said on Mercedes’ Pure Pitwall video following the Russian GP. “Things like this are normally down to small issues with the mapping of the engine.

“There's certainly no concern about the hardware or whether there will be any issue going forward. But, it is an area that we will look at ahead of Suzuka next week.

“We will just make sure we get on top of it and can give him a nice, smooth power delivery.”

Going into the Russian Grand Prix, Hamilton has already used the maximum number of permitted power unit elements and if he required any new parts would incur a grid penalty for the next race.

F1 teams and drivers are allowed to revert to previous power unit elements already used during the season to avoid grid penalties but would run the risk of using older parts.