Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has claimed development of the 2019 engine hasn’t yet produced the expected increase in performance.
This season has seen the German manufacturer caught and at times surpassed by Ferrari in the horsepower race thanks to the Scuderia’s unique double battery layout which led to legality questions throughout the year.
With advances in the hybrid technology still evolving five years after being introduced, there is no sign the rate of gains will slow any time soon but Wolff admits it is getting harder.
“We’ve had some good weeks in the wind tunnel,” Wolff said of the progress with the W10 at a sponsor event.
“We’ve had a little bit of a setback on the engine side where we believed the new concept would deliver a little bit more, but these guys are very ambitious like all of us and so I’m optimistic.
“We will know when the first qualifying session gets underway in Melbourne, this is the moment where everybody shows their cards.”
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While most are still coming down from a hectic 2018 season, at Mercedes (and every team on the grid), Wolff admits the pace rarely slows.
“There is a tremendous development race that is happened as we speak,” he said. “Finding downforce, reducing drag and of course the engine is a very important part, adding more horsepower to the engine.
“So we are setting ourselves really ambitious targets. We have actually increased the targets six weeks ago because we heard some rumours that others were doing well.”