German website Auto Motor und Sport has found that Ferrari statistically has the most powerful engine this season, backing up the fact that the prancing horse has been fairly dominant over the first three race weekends.
The GPS data that has been collected this year so far has a clear winner when it comes to pace, but also shows that Mercedes is planning to play the long game.
"Ferrari has closed the gap with Mercedes, that much is clear," Auto Motor und Sport reports.
"This year, teams are only allowed to have three engines throughout the year instead of four, and it seems Mercedes has overdone it when it comes to compensating pace with durability.
"Instead of 5000 kilometres [3000 miles], they want to drive 8000 kilometres [5000 miles] on one engine.
"Also, Ferrari has found more horsepower over the winter."
Maybe this strategy will pay off at the end of the season, but as of now, it does seem that the Mercedes power unit is simply lacking power. Hamilton got seamlessly overtaken many times on Sunday, which is a very unusual sight as the Brit has been so incredibly dominant over the last four years. Will Mercedes' tactic eventually pay off as the rest of the field starts taking grid penalties for engine replacements, or has the German team overcooked it?
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