Max Verstappen has accused Toto Wolff of “diversion tactics” after the Mercedes team boss talked up the performance of Red Bull’s new car and power unit during this week’s preseason test in Bahrain.
Following sweeping regulation changes over the winter, Mercedes entered Formula 1’s new era as the clear favourite — a feeling that was bolstered by the team’s strong performance at the opening test in Barcelona last month.
But Mercedes’ interpretation of a section of the new engine regulations has already come under scrutiny, with rival manufacturers questioning the German manufacturer’s interpretation of the rules around engine compression ratios.
On the opening day of this week’s test, Wolff fielded multiple questions about the possibility of the compression ratio rule changing to rule out Mercedes’ interpretation of it, but he also took the opportunity to highlight the performance of Verstappen’s Red Bull by calling it the “benchmark” car and power unit combination.
Verstappen believes Wolff’s focus on Red Bull was a way of switching attention away from any advantage Mercedes might have.
“I mean, let’s look back at the last 10 years of winter testing, I don’t think you can say who is the world champion on day one,” Verstappen said.
“Especially with a new ruleset like this. For me personally, it’s more like diversion tactics. But that’s okay. I mean, I focus on what we’re doing here with the team. Because honestly, for us, there’s still so much to learn. This new ruleset is so complex that we just want to do our laps and just go from there, to be honest.”
After splitting with former engine partner Honda at the end of last year, Red Bull enters F1’s new era with a power unit of its own construction.
The team has built the operation from scratch in the space of just four years, and Verstappen said it had made a very solid start with its first power unit.
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“I think the start that we have had is just very nice,” he said. “And everyone is very happy with that. Like the lap count that we did yesterday, for example. That’s just great. That’s exactly what we want to do. But it’s not a given.
“At the same time, we have worked, of course, for many years now to try and be here and be ready. But if it’s going to be enough to win, I don’t know. You don’t have a clue at the moment if that’s the case. And also what you see here now in testing, you won’t see in Melbourne. For many cars, many engines as well.
“And it’s normal, of course, that other people are hiding and trying to probably make us look really good.
“At the same time, we don’t care. We just focus on ourselves. We just try to do the best we can. But yeah, I’m happy, of course, with how everything started. But there’s still such a massive room for improvement at the same time as well. Because of how complicated everything is.”
