Mercedes would consider changing Lewis Hamilton's engine, resulting in a pit lane start, if it is concerned the problem with Nico Rosberg's power unit on Saturday could develop on the sister car.
Mercedes was forced to change Rosberg's brand new engine ahead of qualifying at Monza after discovering a problem, but could not trace the root cause of the issue. On Saturday afternoon the team was working feverishly to understand what went wrong, but may have to send the engine back to its base in Brixworth if it cannot get to the bottom of the problem.
"If we find out that it is a major issue and something which would put Lewis' race [finish] at risk it [replacing the engine and taking the pit lane start] is certainly something we would consider because our car has great pace and it is better to play it safe," team boss Toto Wolff said. "At this very moment we don't know that and I still have every belief it is something we can solve."
Wolff said Mercedes did not turn down Hamilton's engine after learning about the issue on Rosberg's car.
"We ran Lewis' engine like it would normally run in qualifying, there wasn't any concern because we don't know what the root cause of the problem with the engine was. We don't think it was performance related.
"We have clearly seen that Ferrari made a step up with the engine and they have come closer, but our engine is a new development direction, it is not a pure performance factor, there are other things behind it. I wouldn't identify the engine as the factor that put us on pole, but the good driver-engine combination."