BERLIN, German - Germany's Auto Motor und Sport has claimed that, having studied data from January 2014's early Formula 1 testing, the top five places in terms of top speed were occupied by Mercedes-powered cars.
Topping the lot was the Mercedes-powered Williams of Felipe Massa, who tripped the radar at 286km/h on the front straight and 307km/h on the fastest part of the circuit in southern Spain.
STORMING AHEAD
The nearest Ferrari-powered car was a works F14-T driven by Kimi Raikkonen at 268km/h and 289km/h, considerably down on the leading Mercedes. Auto Motor und Sport's Michael Schmidt said Ferrari had admitted it did not deploy full power at Jerez, where the all-new and sophisticated V6 'power units' were getting their first real run.
Mercedes' Niki Lauda, however, said there was no sandbagging (i.e hiding the strength of something early in an engagement) in the silver camp.
Lauda said: "We went to the limit that we could, as it makes no sense to go deliberately slowly. You learn nothing from that."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 F1 season – fresh reports every day.
Topping the lot was the Mercedes-powered Williams of Felipe Massa, who tripped the radar at 286km/h on the front straight and 307km/h on the fastest part of the circuit in southern Spain.
STORMING AHEAD
The nearest Ferrari-powered car was a works F14-T driven by Kimi Raikkonen at 268km/h and 289km/h, considerably down on the leading Mercedes. Auto Motor und Sport's Michael Schmidt said Ferrari had admitted it did not deploy full power at Jerez, where the all-new and sophisticated V6 'power units' were getting their first real run.
Mercedes' Niki Lauda, however, said there was no sandbagging (i.e hiding the strength of something early in an engagement) in the silver camp.
Lauda said: "We went to the limit that we could, as it makes no sense to go deliberately slowly. You learn nothing from that."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 F1 season – fresh reports every day.