Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas warn engine mode ban won't derail season

Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have warned Formula One’s rulemakers that the ban on engine modes will do little to derail their team’s dominance.

The FIA have banned the use of so-called ‘party modes’ on engines for single laps, which Hamilton has used to such good effect in qualifying.

Instead, drivers and teams will have to opt for one consistent engine mode during qualifying and the race itself.

Hamilton, who has won five of the seven races to date this season, said: “I think naturally we lose a little bit, but it’s not the end of the world.

“Everyone potentially would lose something, but maybe some more than others, and no one knows particularly.”

Bottas, meanwhile, said: “I don’t think it’s really going to make a huge difference. We’re talking quite small numbers. For sure, there is a small deficit in qualifying, but actually maybe for our engine a small gain in the race. So, it’s not so bad for us.”

The FIA said the move had been put in place in order to better police teams’ engine use.

Hamilton said: “I find it amusing, because the FIA said it was so they could manage everyone’s usage of the engine or something like that. And then Red Bull came and said, ‘We were the ones just pushing for it’. So, it’s just completely different reasons why they did it.”

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