Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes, recently admitted that his team has the most powerful Formula 1 engine on the grid, a statement that Red Bull has corroborated, especially with the ADUO evaluation system coming back into focus.
The controversy surrounding the ADUO system has again focused attention after the FIA considered the Red Bull-Ford Powertrains engines as the benchmark, leaving Mercedes in a secondary position. In the initial study, a restrictive approach was applied only to the V6 engine, causing Red Bull to request a review of the results.
Although Red Bull has acknowledged that the results cannot be changed, its officials have expressed concern over the possibility that rivals could upgrade elements of their engine without these improvements being adequately reflected in the evaluation.
Recently, after the Belgian Grand Prix, Wolff made statements about the powerful Mercedes engine, despite the reliability issues that have affected the team. “We have had problems with all the Mercedes engines, and that has penalized us at key moments in the races,” he said in reference to a difficult straight-line competition that affected George Russell during the race.
These claims about the power of the Mercedes engine have been confirmed by Laurent Mekies, director of Red Bull, who admitted that Mercedes has dominated in straight-line speed in several races and hopes that the results of the second period of ADUO, which will finish after the Hungarian GP, will reveal significant changes. “Toto is right, and I agree that they have a very powerful engine,” he commented after the race.
During the first phase of ADUO, Red Bull-Ford Powertrains was classified in first position, while Mercedes was positioned between 2% and 4% below, allowing Red Bull to access additional improvements both this year and in the next season. The conclusions of the new period are expected to be published soon, putting the competition between these two major teams at stake.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
