Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff assured the team is “really digging deep” to ensure another power unit-related reliability issue does not befall the team.

Kimi Antonelli suffered what appeared to be a third battery issue of the season in a Mercedes-powered car, with the same issue having befallen George Russell in Canada, and McLaren’s Lando Norris in Monaco.

Toto Wolff addresses Mercedes reliability concerns

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Reliability had been flagged as a crucial area in the 2026 regulations, and while Mercedes and its customers have shown themselves to be reliable on the whole, its main Achilles heel has come from the power unit, with both Oscar Piastri and Norris unable to start the Chinese Grand Prix due to separate engine issues, as well as a separate gearbox problem for Norris in Canada.

Antonelli had been on course for second place in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday, executing an excellent overtake on his teammate before coming to an abrupt halt a lap later out of Turn 5, only five laps from the end.

The Italian believed some kind of battery issue befell him at the weekend, and with his and Russell’s issues added to by McLaren’s retirements, the Mercedes team principal and CEO has said its High Performance Powertrains department will seek to end these reliability problems.

“We don’t know yet what was the cause of the failure,” Wolff said to PlanetF1.com and others in Barcelona.

“Most of the others were battery-related, but different failures. It was not always the same, so we need to understand what it was, but clearly the symptom was quite similar, that the car, like George in Montreal, where the car just switched off.

“We will be really digging deep to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”

As for Antonelli, he still remains well clear at the top of the standings, albeit his 41-point lead is now 25 points lower after Lewis Hamilton’s first win for Ferrari.

The 19-year-old explained more about how his race came to a sudden halt, with no warnings from behind the wheel that he was about to retire from the race.

“I felt very good today. I felt very strong, especially on managing tyres,” Antonelli added in his post-race media rounds.

“It was a shame because we lost a few points, but it’s not the time to be sad or anything. Of course, it hurts now, but I think in a couple of days I’ll be fine, and already focusing on to the next one.

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“I think it was something related with battery, I’m not too sure, but it just switched off, didn’t know it was coming, but it’s what it is.

“I didn’t have any warnings, the car just switched off and I tried to reboot the car completely, because I was hoping it would come alive again, but there was no chance, and it was a terminal failure.

“It happens, part of racing, but at least pace was good today, I think, and now we’ll focus into the next one.”

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