F1 | Red Bull, a source warns: “Mercedes sacrificed part of the power in Abu Dhabi”

Interviewed by the site f1-insider-com, a source close to the Red Bull team analyzed Mercedes' disappointing performance in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last round of the 2020 Formula 1 world championship, revealing how Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas took to the track with a power unit detuned by around 50 HP.

According to the Austrian team insider, the world champion team chose not to make the most of the potential of the W11 on the Yas Marina track, an aspect which in fact allowed Max Verstappen to take pole position on Saturday and dominate, without major problems, the Grand Prix on Sunday.

An interesting point of view that joins the many rumors that have circulated in recent weeks, which reported that a Mercedes was in great difficulty in the Emirates from a reliability point of view.

“In Red Bull they believe that in Mercedes they have not sacrificed the power of the power unit for reliability, but in reality it is exactly like that,” the source said. “GPS data indicates that Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas approached the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a power unit reduced in terms of performance. This, combined with the physical problem faced by Lewis shortly before the Grand Prix (the Englishman was in bed for several days with Covid19 between the Sakhir GP and the Yas Marina one. Ed.), he actually lowered their best time by about half a second."

“It was a premeditated move aimed at making us lower our focus in view of next season,” he continued. “They wanted to make us feel safe and then strike during the pre-season testing session, so as to leave all the opponents in a state of collective shock. It's a move they repeat every year."