Mercedes dealt with setback for 2019 engine

Mercedes had the perfect season in 2018, winning both the drivers and the constructors championship.

Their engine and package is currently better than their closest rival Ferrari, but for a long time during the 2018 season, it was believed that Ferrari had the superior package.

Therefore Mercedes will be putting in that bit of extra effort this season to ensure that their engine and overall package is superior to Ferrari going into the first race of the season in Melbourne.

Toto Wolff has explained that the team is setting ambitious targets for itself, especially because rumours suggest that other teams are going to come out really strong next season.

“There is a tremendous development race that is happened as we speak,” said Wolff.

“Finding downforce, reducing drag and of course the engine is a very important part, adding more horsepower to the engine.

“So we are setting ourselves really ambitious targets. We have actually increased the targets six weeks ago because we heard some rumours that others were doing well.” he added.

While Mercedes are working hard on their overall package, they have been dealt with a setback, as their new concept hasn’t delivered up to the mark.

“We’ve had some good weeks in the wind tunnel,” he said.

“We’ve had a little bit of a setback on the engine side where we believed the new concept would deliver a little bit more. But these guys are very ambitious like all of us and so I’m optimistic.

“We will know when the first qualifying session gets underway in Melbourne, this is the moment where everybody shows their cards.” he added.

While Mercedes should be able to recover from this setback, Ferrari will be hoping that this ‘new concept’ of Mercedes does not quite work out.