Sky Sports F1 pundit and former W Series driver Naomi Schiff has cautioned that persistent power unit reliability issues at Mercedes could cost Kimi Antonelli race victories and jeopardize his championship aspirations.
The Italian currently leads the drivers’ standings with 320 points, holding a commanding 84-point advantage over team-mate George Russell, who sits second on 236 points.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show following the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit, Schiff analyzed Russell’s heartbreaking late-race retirement. The Briton was battling for a podium position when a power unit failure struck in the closing laps, extending Antonelli’s championship lead.
“It’s not great that they’re happening. It’s happened multiple times, not just with George’s car. Kimi’s also had some issues,” Schiff explained.
“Other Mercedes power unit cars have had issues. So, there is a wider issue that I think Toto [Wolff] is probably concerned about. We noticed his frustration, and we can understand why he’s as frustrated as that.”
Schiff argued that the recurring failures could prove decisive in Antonelli’s fight for a maiden title.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Liam Fabre
“But you’ve got to scratch your head and wonder why they’re having so many reliability issues across the board,” she continued. “That could cost Kimi some more victories. It could just cost the team a lot of constructors’ points where… You think about Red Bull this weekend, Isack Hadjar was very, very close to Max Verstappen until the race came, but the other teams and drivers are going to take away points from Mercedes.”
“So, you can understand why there’s frustration across the board. But poor George. I feel for him. I don’t want to give him a pass because his job is to be quicker than his team-mate. But in this year where it was meant to be his year, where Mercedes finally have a competitive car for him, I guess he dropped the ball somewhat.”
