Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff insists the team's new power unit, which was introduced at the French Grand Prix last weekend following an initial delay, wasn't the cause of Sunday's double retirement.
Both Mercedes cars failed to finish the Austrian Grand Prix which marks the teams first double retirement since Spain 2016, when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided on the opening lap.
Valtteri Bottas suffered a hydraulic leak early in the race, whilst Hamilton's problem was related to his fuel pump, confirmed Wolff, therefore both were nothing to do with the spec-two power unit.
"None of the issues today were to do with the reliability of the engine," he clarified. "We had a hydraulic leak that was linked to the steering on Valtteri and a drop in fuel pressure on Lewis's car which was linked to the fuel system. So no regrets on introducing the engine."
Wolff called the race a "major wake-up call" for the team and compared it to the double DNF in Spain.
"That was a major wake-up call. For me the most painful day in my years at Mercedes was in Barcelona. I had plenty of people coming to see me before the race saying it would be a walk in the park and I said 'let's talk in two hours' and this is exactly how motor racing can go. It can be very very cruel and we had all the cruelty go against us today and it just got us brutally."
Hamilton not only suffered a non-finish but also lost the lead of the race through a strategy error and Wolff revealed what the Briton said over the radio when his car ground to a halt.
"I will tell you what Lewis's mood was. He came on the radio and said 'I don't know how many are listening in Brixworth and Brackley but I cannot remember since I have DNF last time, this team has had the best reliability over the last years. This teams has had by far the fastest car in the race today and it is the best team I have driven, so we need to recover from this and I have no doubt we will come back stronger'. That is his mindset."
