Mercedes: Ferrari's 'unusual' pace something we can't figure out

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the "unusual" step made by Ferrari's power unit this year has left the Silver Arrows scratching their heads.

Ferrari's straight-line dominance has troubled Mercedes all season, although issues on the chassis side have prevented the Scuderia from challenging for championship glory in 2019.

The engine power was laid bare in Russia last weekend, where Mercedes estimated that Ferrari were eight tenths per lap quicker on the straights.

Wolff believes extracting more power from the engine is unlikely and admits that thoughts have been cast to Ferrari finding a solution that has so far eluded the constructors' champions.

"It's certainly an outlier, because normally with maturing regulations to find these big steps is certainly unusual," Wolff said of Ferrari's power.

"I think we had situations [in the past] where Ferrari was very strong, but at the moment they just crush everybody with their straight-line speed, so it's very difficult to compensate that round the track. This is a situation that we need to overcome.

"I think we have to look at all areas of the engine. Is there some innovation that we should have spotted?

"I think on pure performance, there is not a lot to come. I think you've just got to acknowledge that there is a certain gap that is almost uncatchable.

"But we've got to do an even better job of putting a good chassis on the track, and understanding the tyres, and running the right race strategy. This is where our opportunities lie.

"Clearly with their kind of power unit performance we shouldn't be expecting to dominate the coming weekends."

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