Clarkson reveals: “Mercedes drove a VT1 in the US with a fucked up engine”

According to Tom Clarkson, the Mercedes in the United States, a complete ignorance of its own speed compared to Red bull racing. The German racing team admitted it was partly because they were riding VT1s with a boosted power source.

The Circuit of the Americas has been considered a true Mercedes circuit for years. No one was looking forward to it then Valtteri Bottas to Lewis hamilton the best times recorded during the first free practice. From the second free practice, however, things turned sour for the team. Sergio Pérez set the best time in VT2 and VT3, while Max Verstappen took pole position. Clarkson knows how this difference occurs. “I think the first free practice on Friday was very misleading. Mercedes was in P1 and P2, but Verstappen couldn’t complete a lap due to the traffic. So we thought Mercedes would indeed be as quick as expected.” , he reveals. F1 Nation Podcast.

Mercedes had an unrealistic image

“Sunday night after the race I talked to the people about Mercedes. I asked them how much confidence they had after the first free practice. They said: ‘At the start we had a lot of confidence. But after VT2, where Checo Perez was the fastest, we only got a realistic picture. We realized two things afterwards: First, that we had run the engine a little higher than normal during the first tests Second, we didn’t realize at that point the impact on traffic in the had had his first free practice on Verstappen. ‘”

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“They had an unrealistic picture after the first free practice,” Clarkson continues. “The second free practice gave a better picture of the weekend. Lewis Hamilton had a fantastic qualifying lap, to get on the front row. But it came more from the driver than the car’s capabilities.”