George Russell is to delay taking his inevitable Formula 1 engine change penalty until Mercedes' new ADUO-upgraded specification is ready - which may not be until around the time of the United States Grand Prix.
Early-season reliability problems mean both Russell and team-mate Kimi Antonelli have been forced to go over their in-season component allocation to get through to the end of the campaign.
Antonelli elected to take extra power unit components at the Italian GP last weekend, which meant he started down in 19th - although he still managed to win the race.
It had initially appeared likely that Russell would choose to take his at the next race in Azerbaijan, because the Baku circuit's long straights would allow him to make similar progress up the field.
However, it has emerged that Mercedes plans to hold fire on making the switch because it wants to coincide Russell's change with upgraded parts.
As The Race reported after the Italian GP, Mercedes is preparing an update to its power unit thanks to the extra allowance it has been granted under F1's Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system.
This move has added an extra layer of complication as to when Russell takes a new power unit because he is already at the limit of several of his components - so has no headroom for new parts without penalties.
Having maxed out his internal combustion engine, turbo, energy store (battery), and control electronics allowance for the season, a move to fresh components at the next couple of races would trigger penalties.
He would face a further grid drop if he then moved to ADUO-improved parts.
Speaking at the Spanish GP, Russell said that the plan now was to twin his engine penalty with the ADUO step as it was illogical to take a double penalty hit.
Asked if there were any regrets about not following Antonelli in taking a fresh engine for the Italian GP, Russell said: "We were always going to take my penalty with the ADUO upgrade.
"Otherwise, if I took it there, I'd have to take it again. So it makes zero sense for me."
A final decision has not been taken by Mercedes yet about when its ADUO step will be introduced, although it had originally been anticipated that it could come for the next batch of flyaways in Azerbaijan, Malaysia, and Singapore.
However, sources suggest that the spec is now looking much more likely to appear for the triple-header in the United States, Mexico and Brazil.
When Mercedes goes for that upgrade - which is understood to include an improved turbo - then Antonelli will also have access to it.
The championship leader did not go for a full power unit change in Italy, as Mercedes instead restricted the switch to his internal combustion engine, battery and control electronics.
That means he has freedom to take a new turbo, MGU-K, exhaust and ancillaries without penalty.
Any improvement in specification that the works Mercedes team introduces also has to be made available to customer teams, although only via a single unit for each customer at the first event.
from The Race https://ift.tt/REzYr2o
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