During the first European GPs, that is, between the events in Monaco and Silverstone (four world stages), a series of rumors arose about the real values of Formula 1 engines on the field.
Obviously the ADUO are causing discussion. Although the official values have not yet been published by the Federation, it is known that Red Bull holds the record for the best ICE, Mercedes is second, but above the 2% gap and the Ferrari engine is third with a lag of more than 4%.
From the moment the scenario was outlined, things were said that however were not confirmed by the teams or by the FIA itself. Both Mercedes and Ferrari were thought to have used underpowered internal combustion engines simply to gain the benefits of the ADUO (by the way, question posed to Mercedes deputy team manager Bradley Lord, read here), and while these rumors have been partially debunked, they have not entirely died down.
Threats of a 2014 masked rerun
Only at Silverstone did we discover, again through unofficial rumors, that Mercedes uses the internal combustion engine only 70%, both to gain the advantages of the ADUO and to have greater control over the reliability issues that cause it concerns about retirements during races. Problems that affected Antonelli, Russell, but also the drivers of the customer teams.
We hope the rumours aren't true, because if they were, it would be a disaster for F1. The category would face another 2014 and, contrary to Wolff's claims, the ADUO could not prevent a repeat of Stuttgart's dominance.
Mercedes is limiting itself, but the margin would be too much at 70% of potential
The fact that Antonelli always manages to set excellent times even in free practice is a clear sign that Mercedes is limiting itself a bit’. It's one thing to think about a small limitation, at most 5-10%, but if Mercedes had really raced at 70% of its potential, it would be really difficult for other competitors to even think about a possible recovery. At least in the short run.
Photo: Mercedes
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