Guenther Steiner says the customer teams using the Mercedes-Benz engine can have no complaints about the way Scuderia Ferrari’s engine department has developed their power unit in 2018, with the Italian marquee now at least on par with the German manufacturer, if not slightly ahead.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport team has been the dominant team in the first four years of the turbo hybrid era, while their V6 engine has been the standout against the likes of Ferrari, Renault and Honda, but 2018 has been very different, both at the front of the field and amid the midfield pack.
Mercedes may still head both championships, but Ferrari have made massive improvements with their power unit, with upgrades coming in both the Canadian and Hungarian Grand Prix so far.
This has helped Steiner’s Haas F1 Team challenge for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, with just sixteen points separating them from the team currently holding down that place, the Renault Sport Formula One Team.
Haas is ahead of both of Mercedes’ customers, with the Sahara Force India F1 Team seven points behind them in sixth, while the Williams Martini Racing outfit is having a nightmare season having scored just four points in the opening twelve races to sit at the back of the pack.
“Mercedes customers shouldn’t complain because they had a very good engine the last four years,” said Steiner to Motorsport.com.
“The first years of these regulations, if you didn’t have a Mercedes engine, you were nowhere. Now Ferrari has overtaken them and everybody having a Ferrari engine are critiqued – ‘Oh, you’ve got the good engine’.
“Yeah we have. So did you the last four years and you didn’t take advantage of it. So what can I do? I’m very happy. If the other ones are unhappy, I cannot help them.”
