Mercedes not yet showing all on Friday: 'Fresher engine on Saturday'

The Mercedes drivers were the fastest on track today during FP2 in Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton was over six tenths faster than his title rival Max Verstappen. Yet it seems the Briton has not shown his full potential yet.

Red Bull have had to wait and see for several weekends in a row now whether Mercedes will use the rocket engine with Hamilton. During the Qatar Grand Prix the Briton drove with an older engine, but at the Jeddah circuit last weekend the rocket engine was used.

During FP1 Max Verstappen was still the fastest, but he had to leave Hamilton behind in the second training session with a gap of more than six tenths. Helmut Marko has already confirmed that the slower qualifying pace was due to the set-up for the long runs, which do look competitive.

No confirmation from Mercedes

Still, the team will probably have to take into account Mercedes' fresher engine on Saturday. Today Mercedes probably drove with the older engine. How much faster the team will be tomorrow, we have to wait and see.

"We don't know what Mercedes has got when they put the super engine in. They don't like to confirm what power unit they run, but they put the fresher one in for Saturday", Kravitz told Sky Sports during the broadcast.