McLaren Left Waiting as Mercedes Prioritises Alpine and Williams for Vital F1 Engine Upgrades
McLaren remains without the latest reliability-enhanced Mercedes Formula 1 power unit, as Mercedes High Performance Powertrains (HPP) directs its limited supply to customer teams Alpine and Williams.
Team Principal Andrea Stella has candidly addressed the situation, outlining why McLaren’s drivers-Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri-have yet to benefit from the crucial updates, even as rivals receive the new components in a bid to counter ongoing technical issues.
Mercedes introduced key reliability upgrades to its power unit at the Austrian Grand Prix, targeting the persistent failures that previously sidelined George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in Canada and Barcelona, respectively. These upgrades were made available to customer outfits, but McLaren opted not to implement them at the British Grand Prix. Instead, Alpine and Williams were given priority, with Carlos Sainz among those taking a complete new power unit following his retirement in Austria.
Stella provided a transparent explanation for the delay, stating: “We discussed with HPP the reason why we are not receiving this specification yet. We understand the reasoning, we trust HPP, we’ve had such a great collaboration in previous years, and they’ve been totally instrumental in McLaren becoming world champions twice, so it is not changing the foundation of the relationship, and conversations remain ongoing.”
He highlighted that McLaren’s own battery issues, including a double DNS in China, have not yet warranted the urgency seen by other teams. “They are running fast, like we are running fast to develop our car, and they are running fast with four teams to supply, so there are some conditions whereby it was not possible to supply the power unit to McLaren. Hopefully, it is going to happen at the next event,” Stella revealed.
The McLaren boss further elaborated that the allocation of new power units is being made based on mileage and severity of issues experienced. “Even the allocation of power units is based on the mileage per car, because it looks like we are not on the latest specification, because Alpine and Williams have accrued more mileage than us, and they were more in need of upgrading their engine,” he explained.
Stella also acknowledged the immense pressure on Mercedes HPP to deliver fixes across multiple teams. “HPP, like any other team, are in a process of development and fixing reliability issues. We have been affected by battery problems; others by ICE problems. They are all running as fast as they can, which means it is difficult for them to carry forward all the solutions and fixes.”
Reflecting on the broader customer-team dynamic, Stella concluded: “It is just the fact that everyone is working at maximum pace, and there are a few things that can be left behind, so we accept that this is part of the conversations we are having with HPP, who we have excellent relationships. I think it’s quite natural that, as a customer team, you remain a bit on the back foot.”
With the Belgian Grand Prix on the horizon, McLaren is hopeful that Norris and Piastri will finally receive the much-needed power unit updates as the fierce technical battle in Formula 1 intensifies.