BAKU, Azerbaijan -- After Sebastian Vettel took his third pole position in a row on Saturday, Mercedes has revealed it believes Ferrari holds a small engine advantage this year.
Mercedes' power unit has been the class of the field ever since the current turbo-hybrid regulations were introduced in 2014, but Ferrari has shown impressive straight-line speed during qualifying sessions this season. Based on GPS traces, which teams use to analyse the ultimate power of rival engines, Mercedes believes Ferrari now holds the edge in terms of outright engine performance.
"In our analysis it's Ferrari that has a tiny edge over us and is a little bit in front," team principal Toto Wolff said.