Max Verstappen details Red Bull’s true F1 engine reality after FIA ADUO verdict
Max Verstappen outlines the true reality of where Red Bull's F1 power unit stands against Mercedes.
Max Verstappen believes the Italian Grand Prix showed there is a big Formula 1 engine performance discrepancy between Red Bull and Mercedes.
After finishing third at Monza behind the Mercedes pair of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, Verstappen said he felt like a “turtle” when battling the Silver Arrows.
The four-time world champion admitted Red Bull simply can’t compete with how efficient the Mercedes power unit is in terms of energy deployment compared to the Red Bull Ford Powertrain.
Verstappen’s comments came after the FIA officially confirmed that Red Bull had been named as having F1’s best engine as it made its results of the first two Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) periods public at the end of August.
The 28-year-old Dutchman insisted Red Bull “don’t see the same numbers” as the FIA and revealed the team remains in talks with F1’s governing body on the matter.
“We are surprised as a team and we don't see the same numbers, so yeah, we're still in discussions with the FIA about this. We'll see what comes out of this,” Verstappen said at Monza.
The FIA’s ADUO ranking only takes into account the performance of the internal combustion engine (ICE), and therefore does not include the electrical side of the power unit and the battery.
Verstappen was again quizzed on the subject ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix and indicated where he thinks the major difference lies in the FIA’s calculations.
"The thing is, of course, you have the measurement of the ICE, but not the battery, right? So it's two different things and at the end of the day, they almost deploy the same amount of power,” he said in Madrid.
”If you only measure one thing, maybe we are very good on the ICE side and then maybe not as strong on the battery side compared to Mercedes. It's very hard to know, but that's what it looks like at the moment.
"We just didn't have the same kind of deployment as Mercedes and it was quite clear when I got into the lead," said the Dutchman. "It was very hard to fight them. I could only just stay with them when I had the overtake mode.
"So, yeah, we just have to do a better job and keep working, keep trying to be better in every aspect: car, engine, battery, all of that. It's never-ending, it's an ongoing development process. We know what we have to work on, but it takes time."
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