Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Mercedes has introduced a new battery and ERS specification for the Austrian Grand Prix to tackle the reliability failures that have already cost it heavily, but the rollout is not uniform, with only Oscar Piastri’s McLaren expected to get the update while Lando Norris appears blocked by the risk of a grid penalty.
The new specification is aimed at the energy-storage side of the hybrid package after a run of battery-related problems across both the works team and its customers. George Russell lost a potential victory in Montreal to a battery failure, while Kimi Antonelli lost what was described as a likely second place in Barcelona for the same reason. Mercedes customers, particularly McLaren, have also shed significant points to reliability issues involving Mercedes hardware.
Antonelli confirmed the change on Thursday in Austria and said the emphasis is on making the package more robust rather than faster. “I don't think it's always been related to a temperature issue, but this weekend, we have a newer spec with updates to improve the durability and reliability of the package,” the Mercedes driver said in Spielberg. He added: “It's not really about performance. It's all about trying to make sure that these issues don't happen again.”
He said Mercedes had been hit by this type of problem too often and called the Austria version an important first step. “The team has been working super hard because definitely we've been suffering from this kind of issue a bit often, but the team has been pushing so hard and hopefully these are the first big updates,” Antonelli said. “But I'm sure that the team is finding the way and I think this is a good step forward.”
The complication is that one of the drivers most exposed to the problem may not be able to use the fix immediately. The Race reported that only one McLaren, Piastri’s MCL40, is set to run the new specification in Austria because Norris is already on his third and final battery of the season. Fitting the upgraded unit now would take him beyond the three-battery limit and trigger a grid penalty.
Norris reached that point after a battery failure ruled him out of the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday and another battery failure in practice at Suzuka left him on his final permitted unit. That leaves McLaren balancing the appeal of a reliability fix against the immediate cost of a penalty if it puts the latest Mercedes hardware in his car this weekend.
Mercedes’ push to solve the issue had also been hindered by logistics. Russell’s failed battery from Montreal was still in sea freight across the Atlantic while the team was trying to complete its analysis, blunting its efforts to react sooner.
The updated specification is not limited to the Mercedes works cars and Piastri. The Race also reported that both Alpine drivers, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, will use the new battery in Austria, while Williams’ position was still unclear at the time of writing. That means the significance of the change goes beyond one team, because if the update works, it could stop a reliability trend that has already reshaped results for multiple Mercedes-powered entries.