Lewis Hamilton to benefit as Mercedes find engine gain despite Alpine suspicion

14 February 2023 , 20:54

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Lewis Hamilton will hope the speculation is true (Image: Getty Images)

Mercedes may benefit from up to 10 horsepower more of power from their engines this year after making reported progress over the winter.

The Silver Arrows will uncover their W14 car, to be drive again by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, on Wednesday. They will be desperately hoping it will be more competitive than its predecessor, which left Mercedes adrift of Red Bull and Ferrari in the 2022 standings.

How competitive their latest creation will be be remains to be seen. However, if a report from Italy is to be believed, Mercedes will be able to count on a more powerful engine.

According to Formu1a.uno, their power units boast 10 more horsepower than before, thanks to work done over the winter. Teams are not currently permitted to make performance improvements to their engines, but are allowed to tweak them to improve reliability.

In doing so, Mercedes will apparently "gain a double-digit value". The report comes after it was claimed that Ferrari could have up to 30 horsepower more in their own power units – a rumour which was recently dismissed as a "joke" by new team boss Frederic Vasseur.

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Meanwhile, Alpine are said to be suspicious of their fellow constructors amid ongoing power unit work to improve reliability. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the Enstone outfit are concerned that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull might all be pushing the rules despite the engine 'freeze'.

Alpine's Bruno Famin feels the current engine freeze rules are unclear (AFP via Getty Images)

Renault appears to be the only engine manufacturer which hasn't increased the horsepower of its engines over the winter. In a recent interview with The Race, the team's engine chief Bruno Famin questioned the vagueness of the rules and wants the FIA to be "stronger" when considering change requests in future.

"What is a pure, genuine reliability issue?" he asked. "Then, behind the reliability issue you often have a potential performance gain, of course. The limit is not exactly always super clear.

"If you have a water pump issue, as we had in '22, it's quite clear it's a pure reliability issue, there is nothing to gain in having a better or different water pump. If need to change the material of the piston rings, OK, you will be able to have something stronger to have more performance, then where is the limit? It's not obvious."

Daniel Moxon