The German car manufacturer was locked in a tight title battle with Red Bull throughout 2021, but had to endure a run of grid penalties in the closing stages of the campaign amid concerns about the durability of its power units.
The rules limited teams to a total of three major power unit components for the entire season, but both Mercedes drivers had to take a number of new parts.
Valtteri Bottas used a total of six internal combustion engines during the season, the most of any driver, while Lewis Hamilton got through five.
Mercedes customer teams McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams also had to run a fourth power unit in the second half of the year.
With F1 set to enter an engine freeze from the start of this year, there was some urgency on Mercedes to get its issues solved immediately so it did not lock in any problems.
But, with a few weeks still to go before the new power units run on track for the first time in pre-season testing, McLaren has offered some encouragement…
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