Not quite the best time to run a Mercedes engine: while both Sebastian Vettel and George Russell will be starting the US Grand Prix from the back of the grid following a Power Unit substitution, Valtteri Bottas will be jumping down to P9 after taking yet another new ICE.

This is the 3rd engine change in the last four races for the Finn and his teammate Lewis Hamilton is not looking much better either, having taken on a new ICE just last racing weekend in Turkey. At McLaren, on the other hand, they don’t seem to have much to complain about their suppliers.

Asked about Mercedes reliability issues, during a media session ahead of Quali where MotorLat was present, CEO Zak Brown did not appear too concerned over the issue.       
“Mercedes have been a great partner. They have certainly met our expectations, exceeded our expectations, helped us get back to winning races,” he commented.

Admittedly, compared to other suppliers and the silver arrows themselves, they haven’t been struggling too much in Woking.  
“Our reliability has been very good,” explained Brown. “I know they've had their challenges. I think there are elements that go into reliability that are not necessarily exclusively the power unit itself.”

The team has performed quite well this season and Brown is confident Mercedes is going to find a solution. 
“All I can do is speak about McLaren's experience, which is we're having a great run with Mercedes and an unbelievable track record,” he said. “We aren't worried about the fact that they won't  get on top of the issues. And again, we haven't experienced a lot of the issues neither.”

McLaren heads to Austin with a 7.5 points margin from Ferrari in the Constructor Standings after a disappointing outing in Instanbul.

“You know, we've got six races to go. I think it's gonna be a fight to the finish with Ferrari. So every race really counts at this point,” observed Brown. “We've had some really strong races recently, and then we've had some tracks, in Holland and Turkey,  where we've struggled.”

Strong races that peaked in the 1-2 finish in Monza last September. As for this weekend the MCL35M showed a nice pace during the free pratice sessions, particularly in FP2 where the McLarens run 2nd and 5th fastest.

“Seems like yesterday we had a good pace with both drivers and so they're happy. So let's see how we get on,” he went on. “Hopefully this weekend with it being the US, for me at least, it's a bit more special than maybe some other Grand Prixes , but it pays the same amount of points.”

And in a few hours we will see how many points McLaren will be taking home from Texas, with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris starting respectively in P6 and P7 – following Bottas’ 5 places drop – right behind the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.