Toto Wolff: We and Ferrari are roughly equal in strength.

      The Mercedes drivers have achieved 8 victories in the eleven already completed stages of the season, and the factory team of the Stuttgart concern confidently leads in both championship standings. However, rivals, primarily the Ferrari drivers, have gradually improved, and the McLaren team has also caught up, while Max Verstappen has more or less adapted to the new Red Bull Racing car, whose behavior initially lacked stability.

      It is no coincidence that in Hungary, Lando Norris secured his first victory of the season, while the four-time world champion took second place. If in the first half of the year it seemed that the scenario of 2014 could repeat itself, when Mercedes unconditionally dominated at the beginning of the "hybrid era," the picture is different now, and Toto Wolff, the head of the team from Brackley, understands this.

      "In 2014, at the beginning of the hybrid era, we were able to achieve a clear advantage because our power units were much more efficient (than our competitors)," Wolff is quoted by RacingNews365. "And today you see that Ferrari has come very close to us. If we make a mistake in setting choices or do not engage in upgrades, while our rivals continue to refine their technology, we will quickly find ourselves in an unfavorable position.

      In general, I think we will no longer see a situation where one team clearly dominates in Formula 1."

      Moreover, to prevent this and create conditions for leveling the playing field among championship participants, the FIA has provided a special ADUO program that allows lagging teams to upgrade their internal combustion engines (ICE) more intensively than teams whose power units have proven to be the most efficient.

      To create an objective rating of ICE power, a special methodology has been developed, and according to the federation's experts, surprisingly, the best in this regard turned out to be the engines produced by Red Bull Powertrains, although this is the debut season for the engine builders from Milton Keynes. However, they are clearly aided by the experience, technology, and know-how of their partners from the American corporation Ford.

      "The FIA believes that Red Bull has the most powerful ICE," Wolff continued. "These are the results of their measurements. But if we talk about the overall efficiency of the power unit, then, perhaps, we are still the leaders.

      Ferrari continues to complain that they do not have the most powerful engine, but in my opinion, their power unit is absolutely competitive, and the car is designed in such a way that it can generate high levels of downforce. Overall, I believe that we are roughly equal in strength."