Merc engine modes less ‘special’: Vettel

London : Australian Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel believes Mercedes’ Formula 1 engine’s qualifying mode has less of an advantage over Ferrari’s in 2018.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton beat the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel by more than six tenths of a second in qualifying, which led Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo to declare the Mercedes was so good any top driver could take pole position in it.

Mercedes’ power unit has been more potent than its rivals, particularly in the final part of qualifying, ever since F1 adopted V6 turbo-hybrid engines in 2014.

Vettel said that in Australia Mercedes “didn’t do anything special - not more than they did last year, probably even a bit less by the looks of it”.

“I think they did turn it up for Q3 but not by seven-tenths,” said Vettel, who turned the tables on Sunday thanks to a fortunately timed pitstop during a virtual safety car period.

“Probably if you look at qualifying carefully, it’s fair to say they were quick in Q1, quicker than us, Lewis was quick in Q2 and then his second run, I don’t know, something happened.

“So, his last run in Q3 was the only proper run at the end, and he had a clean run, and I don’t think the gain that he had in time was down to engine.”

Ferrari was stronger on the straights in Australia and reckoned to be gaining around three-tenths over Mercedes in qualifying, although it also opted for less downforce as well.