Shovlin: Mercedes power unit issues "not the difference between first and second"

A definitive answer has yet to be found as to why Mercedes had so much trouble keeping up with Max Verstappen's Red Bull in Abu Dhabi. Andrew Shovlin, top man at Mercedes, is now responding to the rumours that the conservatively tuned engine was the key to his team's poor performance.

Shovlin disagrees with the reasoning that the engine tuning explains the Silver Arrows' lagging pace. According to Shovlin, the difference this adjustment would make is minimal. Autosport.com quotes Shovlin: "You're talking significantly less than a tenth of a second, so not the difference between first and second. ... [It was] not an amount that's going to determine the race result.”

Shovlin also explains that the problem of the power unit hasn't been fully understood by his team yet, and that's another reason why the drivers weren't aware of it during the race. "I would say that rather than being acutely aware of a specific problem, we are operating the power unit in a way that is as conservative as we can be in order to try and avoid a problem. But when you don't understand exactly the string of issues, all you can do is just be a bit cautious.”

Shovlin continues: “During the race we were trying to reduce the duty marginally, but you're right, the drivers wouldn't have necessarily been aware of it. It was just something we were trying to manage in the background." All in all, it wasn't a nice end to the season for Mercedes.