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Engine failures are a general rarity for world champions Mercedes, but one issue too many for Lewis Hamilton in 2016 has led the team to shift a great deal of focus to engine reliability in preparation for the new season.
According to the Silver Arrows' engine guru Andy Cowell, this is being ensured through six main changes in design that will prevent any further mechanical headaches for the team. "We had a few painful incidents last year and we did an awful lot of investigation into that," he says. "There are six design changes within the engine to improve the bearing system and three or four quality improvements in the way the power unit is assembled and then looked after through its life."
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Cowell has also made clear, however, that developments are still being made elsewhere in the engine that has allowed Mercedes to dominate F1 since the introduction of the hybrid turbo unit in 2014. He will be hoping that these can help the new W08, launched at Silverstone on Thursday, to retain the team's advantage over their rivals.
"The base architecture of our ERS system is similar to what we started with in 2014," stated Cowell at the launch. Is it the same for this year? No it is not, there is improvement in the high power switches, they are more efficient.
"There are several improvements in reliability within the box, which means we can run it harder for longer. We are not as vulnerable to having to derate the system for cooling reasons because the heating effects within the module. The MGU-H is completely new as a consequence of the drive cycle change and the MGU-K is new as well. It is a big evolution."
Mason Hawker
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