Helmut Marko identifies vulnerability in Mercedes’ title bid

Although Mercedes has emerged as the team to beat in F1’s new era, Helmut Marko believes the W17 has one vulnerability that could hurt the team – the reliability of its power unit.

Mercedes came out of the blocks on a charge this season as Formula 1 introduced new cars as well as a new engine formula.

Helmut Marko warns Mercedes reliability could affect title fight

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The team secured six consecutive Grand Prix victories from pole position before Lewis Hamilton ended his former team’s streak at the Barcelona Grand Prix

Mercedes, though, still has a healthy lead in both championships.

Kimi Antonelli is 41 points ahead of the Ferrari driver in the drivers’ standings, while Mercedes has a 72-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.

However, both leads could have been bigger had George Russell and Antonelli not suffered retirements in Canada and Barcelona.

Russell experienced a “catastrophic” battery failure in Montreal while fighting Antonelli, who would go on to win the Grand Prix, while an “electrical shutdown” cost Antonelli in Spain. There too, the DNF occurred during the midst of a Mercedes teammate tussle, with Russell finishing the Grand Prix in second place.

The two DNFs potentially cost Mercedes the points for a second and third place, although no one can say for certain.

It has Marko saying that while Mercedes is the favourite for the titles, the team’s reliability issues could cost it dearly.

“The new regulations clearly put Mercedes in the favourite’s role,” he told Kleine Zeitung.

“However, they’ve already had their second engine failure, which is unusual for them.”

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Aside from reliability, another big factor in this year’s championship will be development as the team cars are in their infancy.

While Ferrari has already introduced two huge upgrade packages, the Scuderia’s rivals have been a bit more cautious in bringing new parts to their cars.

“Generally speaking,” Marko said, “updates are certainly more effective at this stage of the regulations; you can gain five-tenths of a second in one go.”

The former Red Bull motorsport advisor is hoping Red Bull get it right and deliver a race-winning car for his former charge Max Verstappen.

“Red Bull is fielding a car at the weight limit for the first time, so they’ll definitely be there,” he said. “I hope Max can then be up front.

“Mercedes is the favourite, but the rest of the field is more than interesting.”

Verstappen is seventh in the drivers’ standings after seven rounds having scored just one podium on his way to 55 points. Red Bull is fourth in the teams’ standings with 89 points, 173 behind Mercedes.

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