TJ13 has plotted the various explanations Mercedes have given for the issues Nico Rosberg suffered with power units las time out in Monza.
Plan one for this weekend, was Rosberg would use the ‘new’ PU#3 which was switched out of the car as a precaution before qualifying in Italy.
TJ13 questioned the wisdom of this move, given explanations from Andy Cowell suggesting there were at one point gasket head concerns with this PU.
Mercedes plan two was that Rosberg would use PU#3 only on Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday use a fourth new PU, which is Rosberg’s final penalty free engine of the season.
Now Mercedes have changed their minds again. When the car was presented for scrutineering today, the power unit in Rosberg’s car was the new PU#4. TJ13 has learned Mercedes do not want to lose any track time in Singapore due to the complex nature of the setup required and this unit will now be used all weekend.
Nico’s PU#3 will re-appear on Friday in Japan.
Sensible decision (better late than never). No point messing around swapping out PUs mid weekend.
Agree, good decision by Merc. Especially if they want to be seen as being fair to both drivers.
> Nico’s PU#3 will re-appear on Friday in Japan.
Or so they say. Could this be a case of Merc not wanting to admit that one of their engines just died? Obviously they have absolutely no trust in PU#3
Ok, let me be more politically correct.
Excellent decision by the Mercedes senior management, better to be safe than sorry.
Mercedes seem to just be trolling everyone at the moment, or at least just trolling the ones who will always have a go at them.
What do I want from Rosberg this weekend, well a good race or a really bad one. He either needs to get after Hamilton or fall back so he’s in a fight with Vettel. Something of interest rather than coming home a comfortable P2 for the rest of the season.
Whats all the fuss? so what if they screwed the engine up because of a leak in the cooling system or whatever? Merc are the one team that can decide to use the 4th engine in Singapore because its the one track left where both drivers want to start from the front with no issues. Its not like they are racking up penalties and stockpiling engines to ‘be ready for Singapore’
Reminds me of the endless flow of empty press reports about the ‘shocking’ way the Hamilton contract was handled by Merc (shortly before it was all signed)