Antonelli: “We will have an updated battery pack, but the ADUO has nothing to do with it”

Mercedes also mounts a ‘fresh’ power unit New battery and power unit to put the technical knockout in Barcelona behind them on a weekend in which very high temperatures are expected and therefore testing in a ‘high altitude’ race which is already taking away oxygen from the single-seaters. Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes did everything possible to present themselves ‘polished’ in an important event following the first defeat of 2026 inflicted by Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. “We have a new battery pack updated in the software and also in the hardware, but it’s about reliability, it’s not an intervention resulting from the effect of the ADUO because we’re not talking about performance,” explained the World Championship leader in the appointment with the media on the eve of free practice on Friday. “The problems we had were not linked to temperatures because we always had the same problems, but in Canada for example it was cold and instead in Barcelona it was hot – added Antonelli – from what they explained to me at Montmelò there was a peak in temperature which sent everything haywire.” “We are also fitting a new power unit because we race at altitude and there is a lack of oxygen – said Antonelli regarding the new power unit he will use this weekend – it is a very hard track for various components of the car, in particular the brakes and the engine. Given that we have had many reliability problems and that this weekend is particularly testing from this point of view, we will fit new components”.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-25 21:00:00