The Mercedes engine unit was not idle during the summer

Winner of the last event before the break in Hungary with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 however saw the threat Red Bull – Honda to clarify a little more. It took an excellent strategic choice from the world champion team to prevent Max Verstappen to sign a new victory with a decidedly faster and faster RB15.

If the break is traditionally intended to be a period of relaxation within the teams for 14 days, only the Brackley premises being concerned for Mercedes.

“While the majority of our colleagues at Brackley have had the chance to recharge for the second half of the season, other members of the team have picked up the slack in recent weeks, comments Toto wolff, Mercedes Team Principal.

Our team members at Brixworth worked tirelessly over the F1 summer break to improve the performance and reliability of our Power Unit. »

Enough to offer an ever more efficient engine block to the two W10s of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. And for Toto Wolff, this return to competition must be approached without resting on the laurels of a first part of the season mastered by the Silver Arrows.

“Over the past few years, we have seen teams perform very well after the summer shutdown, recalls the Austrian. So we must continue to move forward. In this regard, we are approaching the second part of 2019 as a new season. »

If Lewis Hamilton had won the Belgian event in 2017, Sebastian Vettel had imposed his Ferrari last year. But the two men were then in the heart of a duel for the world title. Twelve months later, the scenario has changed, Ferrari still looking for the right formula with its SF90.