Breaking news
Formula 1
Mercedes has switched to 'safe spec' gearboxes
Mercedes has faith that there will be no repeat of the gearbox problems that have hit Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in recent races, because it has now reverted to a safer older specification.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jul 16, 2017, 11:47 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Hamilton and Bottas picked up damage to their gearboxes at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the result of an aggressive strategy that Mercedes adopted with its seamless shift settings for the Baku race.
The issues prompted Mercedes to change Hamilton's gearbox in Austria and switch Bottas over this weekend in Britain.
However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said that the team fully understands what it did wrong in Azerbaijan and that going back to older settings should ensure no further problems for the remainder of the campaign.
"We are trying to push every area, and extract performance wherever we are - and sometimes you go one step too far," he said.
"We have damaged both gearboxes in Baku and we hoped to survive with Valtteri's gearbox until after Budapest. But we didn't want to take the risk.
"That is why both gearboxes have been changed back to the safe spec – and we shouldn't be having these problems any more. This is the new reality, you need to not leave any stone unturned in order to find performance."
Wolff said that the team only discovered it had hit trouble following post-race inspections in Baku.
"In Baku we didn't recognise the problem yet," he said. "It was good that we finished the race there. Obviously it was not a great day overall, and with Lewis it was clear that the gearbox wouldn't survive Austria.
"With Valtteri, our damage matrix showed us that we needed to wait until after Austria in order to judge whether we were able to go until after Budapest or exchange it early. So there was a 50/50 chance. Then looking at it, we realised we had to change."
Although the settings approach in Baku was aimed at improving performance, Wolff said that ultimately there was little time benefit from the change.
"Unfortunately gearboxes are quite a mature area," he said. "There is not a lot of performance you can extract, so they are not a big performance differentiator.
"Nevertheless we have tried it in order to maximise it but it is not that you would really see it on the stopwatch."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Hulkenberg fears reality will bite in British GP
Next article Bottas won't risk as much at British GP start
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Mercedes
George Russell has lost 90 points to Max Verstappen in F1 2026 runner-up battle
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
18 h
George Russell has lost 90 points to Max Verstappen in F1 2026 runner-up battle
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Latest news
Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 4 h
Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
13 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
14 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 14 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe