Mercedes technical director James Allison has expressed concern at the "strain" set to be placed on Kimi Antonelli's power unit pool after the failure that forced him into retirement in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.
Antonelli was on course to score points for the first time in three races when his PU suffered an issue, forcing him to pull off into the gravel, sparking a safety car that led to a degree of chaos over the closing laps once the race restarted.
For the unfortunate Antonelli, the retirement concluded a miserable three-race run on F1's return to Europe, leaving him without a point since he finished sixth in the Miami Grand Prix in May.
The incident has naturally sparked investigations inside Mercedes to determine the cause, mindful not only of the impact upon themselves, but also on their customers - Aston Martin and Williams.
"We don't know what let go in the PU yet," said Allison. "It's made its way back to Brixworth.
"They'll dismantle it, figure out what's let go, work out what they need to do as recommendations for the whole pool of race engines, not just in our team, but also in their customer teams as well.
"And, hopefully, we won't see any repeat of it in the remainder of the season."
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Mercedes 'eyeballing' resources
The bigger issue for Mercedes is that with 15 races remaining, it will make managing the pool of PU components difficult for the remainder of the year.
If all components perished in the incident in Spain, a new PU will have to be fitted for the next race in Canada. It means three of the internal combustion engine, MGU-H, MGU-K, and the turbocharger, will have been used this year.
Only four of each component are allowed this season before penalties occur.
"It puts some pressure on the pool," said Allison. "So, we could put in a new power unit next race weekend, and suffer no penalties, because we're still below the maximum number you're allowed to use in a year without penalty.
"But, of course, we're only a third of the way through the year, …well, a bit more, so that's going to put quite a strain on the remainder of the pool if we have to eke it out until the end of the year.
"So, we'll be just eyeballing how to marshal those remaining resources in a good way. But, yes, it's obviously no fun when a power unit comes out of the pool before delivering its full life."
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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they discuss last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix! Max Verstappen's clash with George Russell is a major talking point this week, as is whether Lewis Hamilton has started to contemplate if he is still quick enough.
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