Mercedes was “half a second slower than normal” as the 2020 season came to an end in Abu Dhabi last month. However, f1-insider.com correspondent Ralf Bach claims that Mercedes’ engine was turned down by up to 50 horsepower in Abu Dhabi, with the world champions citing reliability concerns. “At Red Bull, they believe that Mercedes didn’t have to sacrifice horsepower, but that they wanted to. GPS data from both Red Bull and Honda is said to prove that,” he said. “All of this made Mercedes half a second slower than normal per lap,” the Red Bull source said. Fascinatingly, top Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko also believes Mercedes voluntarily sand-bagged at the 2020 season finale.

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