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What's the secret to Merc's F1 success?

BERLIN, Germany - There is more to Mercedes' dominance than simply power and downforce.

That is the finding of Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, arguing that main rival Ferrari is now almost level-pegging with the world champions in terms of kilowatts.

SUSPENSION TRICKERY?

And as far as the chassis is concerned, rivals are now beginning to look more closely at how the 2015 Mercedes is often so much better.

Referring to the 2015 British GP at Silverstone, and a detailed analysis based on GPS data in qualifying, Force India's technical boss Andy Green said: "They (Mercedes) killed everybody in the last corner particularly.

READ: Lauda wants 150km/h in the pits lane!

"Apparently they're keeping the rear tyres in such good shape in the first part of the lap that they still have good grip in the final corners.  For everyone else, the temperature is going up too much for that."

Green said he has noticed a key difference with the front suspension settings of the Mercedes.

Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt revealed that the suspicion is that the W06, by way of an unexplained trick, is able to be "pumped up" for the optimal balance between high and low-speed corners.

Stay with Wheels24 for the 2015 F1 season – fresh reports every day.

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