Sainz: Hiding their game is “typical” of Mercedes

The recent speeches by Mercedes have caused a reaction from Ferrari, especially Carlos Sainz, who doesn’t believe a word of these statements. According to the Spaniard, Mercedes has a habit of highlighting other teams at the beginning of the season to hide its real progress.

After the second day of testing this Friday, Mercedes’ star driver Lewis Hamilton spoke about the progress of his rivals. The British driver announced that Ferrari would be in a position to achieve a one-two finish at the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain next week. This statement did not fail to elicit a reaction from the Scuderia.

Carlos Sainz revealed that he pays no attention to these words, as for him, Mercedes is only hiding by emphasizing the rival teams.

« I think it’s typical of Mercedes,” says Sainz. « Putting others in the spotlight, then we get to the first race and they crush the competition, that’s typical. If it was their first year doing it, then maybe I would have believed them. But they’ve been doing it for 5 or 6 years now and they still crush us in the first race. So, as you can imagine, I don’t really believe it. We can already see what they’re doing… and I won’t say too much about it,” reveals the Ferrari driver.

Carlos Sainz specifically references the GPS data used by the teams, which allows for comparing the performances between the Mercedes and the Ferrari. As for the lap times achieved by the two rivals, they are relatively close. The Silver Arrow and the F1-75 are turning at approximately the same pace in the corners, but the W13 falls behind on the straight line.

The theory is that Mercedes is using a very conservative mode for its engine, which would conceal the true potential of the W13.

Caution is of the essence at Red Bull.

At Red Bull, Christian Horner, the team principal of the racing team, agrees with Carlos Sainz when it comes to hidden progress. Therefore, Mercedes has still not revealed its full potential.

« It’s just impossible to say,” Horner declares. « What we can say is that we will only have a first glimpse next Saturday when the fuel is at its minimum and the teams will be driving as close as possible to the minimum weight. Then we will see how competitive they are. I think that’s what’s fascinating when you start from a blank canvas. I don’t think Mercedes has shown its hand,” the British driver asserts.

Christian Horner also spoke about the other teams in the paddock: “I think Ferrari is currently the team in the best form, but luckily we can be as well. It seems like McLaren has a powerful car and Alpine has been fast, so it’s impossible to predict anything.”

Interrogated about Carlos Sainz’s statements, Horner is more cautious. “We would be really, really, really good if we had all these moments of oversteer with vulgar driving just to hide our speed. That’s not the case. There are definitely things we are trying to fix. I think, as I said, others have less trouble but who knows? Maybe we’ll have a better understanding next week,” Horner concludes.