Mercedes working ‘day and night’ to fix MGU-H problem

Hamilton hopes gremlins are behind him

Mercedes are working "day and night" to resolve the MGU-H issue which has struck Lewis Hamilton twice in as many races, costing the Briton valuable points as he seeks to close the gap to team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton was forced to start from the back of the grid in China when the problem first struck during qualifying. The team believed they had identified and cured the problem ahead of the next race, but it struck once again during qualifying in Russia, forcing Hamilton to start tenth.

Mercedes technical boss Paddy Lowe insists fixing the problem is the "highest priority" as they head to the first European event on the calendar this weekend.

"The highest priority is to come back with our MGU-H problem solved, having had a repeat fault over the past two race weekends," Lowe said.

"The team has been working day and night to understand it and we’re targeting a clean weekend all round."

Meanwhile Toto Wolff has described their season so far as mixed, despite leading both championships.

"Assessing our season so far is an interesting task. On the one side, we are leading the Constructors’ Championships by a good margin and our drivers hold the top two positions in the Drivers’ standings," he said.

"So, realistically speaking, it’s tough to ask for more. However, it has not been plain sailing and we have had problems that we are working hard to solve."