gearboxtrouble wrote: ↑15 Sep 2026, 04:05
Only way that could happen is if George has to take a penalty before the new engine is ready and Kimi would rather wait till Austin, leaving the McLarens able to take it first with their next normally allocated engines. Logically it makes sense for George to take a penalty at Baku - the main straight should let Mercedes get through the field really quickly even with the current spec. Another engine related DNF because they wanted to wait for the ADUO engine would be a bad outcome.
I think you are mixing topics here:
- More power: I do not think that Merc would aim for more power now. Would be stupid under the current ADUO as it would jeopardize the current advantage that is manifested like 2014 in the rules. Any addition of power may open up ADUO for RedBull. So no matter what they do...George can slice through the field in any race as we have seen it in Monza. Except for Spore, Katar (?) and Brazil everything to come will be an energy starvation race at some spot.
- More reliability: The failures were all very early. I do not think this plays a very big role. But yes, I am quite sure, that Merc will put everything into reliability.