“I feel like I’m massively down on power” - Lewis Hamilton complains about engine during FP1 at the Qatar Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton complained about his engine during the first session of practice at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix held at the Losail International Circuit on Friday. The seven-time world champion was apparently not happy about the power output of his Mercedes F1 car.

The Losail International Circuit has mostly been the long-time home of Moto-GP races and the Qatar Grand Prix is the first time it has seen F1 cars. The track, which features 16 turns, runs over the course of 5.380 km and is one of only two tracks with one DRS zone.

Lewis Hamilton was heard complaining about a loss of power on team radio during the first free practice session on Friday after taking a five-place grid penalty for a new ICE last week at the Brazil Grand Prix.

"I feel like I’m massively down on power," the Briton was heard saying.

Many attributed Lewis Hamilton's Brazil Grand Prix success to his new ICE

Lewis Hamilton, who topped qualifying in Sao Paulo, was disqualified and had to start from the back of the grid for the sprint session. However, he made up 10 places in the sprint and even after taking another penalty during the race, managed to come P1 by a comfortable margin.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff commented on the state of the Mercedes PUs and is aware of the power drop-off they experience as they rack up on mileage.

“We have degradation on the engine and that is going to continue until the end of the season," he said. "It will continue to decrease in power… we are just seeing it creep down.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also commented on the state of his own power unit as well as that of Mercedes.

“One of the great things about the Honda PU is there is virtually no drop-off in power throughout its life," he said. "The difference between a new one and end-of mileage is only around 0.1s. It looks to be more than that on the Mercedes."