Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has said that his team knows where their weaknesses lie in terms of their engine and that they'll be doing all they can to see this season through without further parts changes and then head into next year with remedies to the issues.

Formula 1 is the pinnacle of automotive engineering as well as obviously *the* championship to be in if you are a driver or constructor.

Teams are constantly pushing the technological envelope in the bid for that extra bit of horsepower and, this year, they have had to deal with being only able to change their power units three times before penalties are handed out.

Indeed, we saw Lewis Hamilton fall foul of that at the weekend as his ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) component of the power unit was changed, prompting a 10-place grid drop, and now Wolff hopes no further changes will be needed this year, as well as claiming that his team knows what they need to do so sort deficiencies for next season:

''The limits are being pushed and we have seen examples of strange noises in the internal combustion engine, at the time we didn't really have an explanation for that and that has caused us problems in the past. We've had engines that simply froze up, now it's more about limiting the problems. At this stage it's not possible to change parts, so you can't tackle it that way.

''It has always been very important to find the right balance between a fast engine and one that is reliable, it will continue to be so in the future. We won't go into next season with a disadvantage, we know where our weaknesses lie. Now we have to make sure we find solutions to the problems."

New engine configurations are being planned for the middle of this decade but in the meantime the teams will be looking to extract as much as they can from their current power units.

Mercedes power the likes of Aston Martin, McLaren and Williams as well as themselves, too, so it's not just in their interest to sort out any creases they feel they have at the moment for 2022.

It remains one of the best power units on the grid, however, and so to hear them thinking that they can make it even better is a warning to their rivals.