Mercedes won’t follow Ferrari’s engine strategy as they believe by doing so, it would compromise them later in the season, according to Niki Lauda.
Ferrari have confirmed that both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will receive new power units for the Spanish Grand Prix with speculation they could provide a 20-30bhp boost.
When asked if Mercedes were planning something similar, Lauda replied: “No, we have only just had the fourth race [of the season],” he told Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Austrian believes it will pay off later in the season to delay its engines as drivers are limited to just four (*) each, meaning they must last five races apiece.
“What may appear as a disadvantage now will become an opportunity when it really counts, in the second half of the season,” he added.
Meanwhile Lauda made it clear that Mercedes certainly wouldn’t be standing still in its fight against Ferrari and will be bringing aerodynamic upgrades of its own.
“The right thing to do is to not change work programmes on a whim. In any case, we’ll have big changes to the car at Barcelona.”
*This is likely to increase to five following unanimous agreement.
