Former Mercedes Motorsport boss: 'We were sandbagging'

With the start of the season just around the corner people in motorsport are rolling over each other to give their opinions on the favourites for this season. It is clear to many that the battle at the front will be between Red Bull Racing and Mercedes.

Sandbagging

Former Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug, gave his opinion in a conversation with Motorsport-Total.com. He suspects his old team were sandbagging during testing. "When Toto says they drove the heaviest car of the whole winter test, I think they were sandbagging," he said. "Still, Red Bull Racing is looking very strong."

Favourites

The tests were anything but flawless according to Haug. "It's certainly the case that it didn't go the way Mercedes would have liked. But you know what they say, right? A bad test means a good raceday performance. Mercedes can also stumble from time to time, although the chances are very small I must say."

That Mercedes is pushing the role of favourites to Red Bull Racing says nothing to Haug. "You always want to give the role of being favourites to the competition."

Besides a strong Red Bull Racing, Haug also sees a great season ahead for AlphaTauri. "Honda has learned a lot. They have a good, very strong engine."