"We have the most powerful power unit," declares Toto Wolff, as he reveals that all cars powered by Mercedes had issues in Belgium.
Though the record books will show George Russell's Spa-Francorchamps as being down to an accident - following a clash with Lewis Hamilton - the reality is that the Briton was stricken with a technical issue.
"I shouldn't have been in that position in the first place," the Briton told reporters in the aftermath of the clash, "that's why I'm most angry.
"I made a good start," he continued, "I made a great first corner and I was tucked up right behind Verstappen. But for whatever reason the battery decided not to recharge at Turn 1, so I went around the first corner, the battery didn't charge and I exited the first corner 35% down.
"Because of that, because it didn't charge and I also had a boost problem, the turbo didn't sort itself out, so I had no power. I got to the top of Eau Rouge with 0% on the battery, quite frankly it was dangerous, and I got swamped by three cars."
"It's two situations here," Wolff subsequently told Sky Sports. "First is the racing, the accident that happened. It was unfortunate for us, we lost a lot of constructor points and George driver points. And then we had an issue with all Mercedes engines, where we lacked power out on the straight. And that bit him badly. It 100% goes on us.
"We are trying our best as a team," he continued, "We have the most powerful power unit, we have a strong car that is capable of winning. Everybody is giving it maximum to minimise the mistakes and still it happens because we are humans at work. We let Kimi down at Silverstone where George got a podium, which is maybe better than the result should have been. Then one DNF for Montreal, the other in Barcelona. That's a little bit of the story of our season here. It's a technical sport, a mechanical sport."
Pushed on his claim that the Mercedes is the most powerful power unit, a claim that many media outlets appear not to have repeated, he said: "I'm proud to be part of the organisation in HPP and MGP, those groups of people give it all they have.
"We come out with a product this year that is so strong and I'd rather fix the reliability rather than accelerate a slow engine, or a slow car," he admitted. "We are giving it one hundred per cent, we need to give it one hundred per cent because we lost a lot of points with reliability. We should be much further ahead than we are."
Referring to Russell, he said: "George has our one hundred per cent support. George tried the outside, late braking and it should have been his corner but that's a racing incident. These things can happen whether you are at the front, middle or back of the pack.
"George had a difficult weekend," he continued, "probably half of it will be attributed to the power unit that wasn't as good as it should have been on his side, and the other side maybe on the driving. But we are in this together. We all do mistakes. Today it was a mistake that the team did, another day it will be a mistake of the driver. We just need to minimise it and support each other.
"I'm happy for Kimi," he added. "He really deserved to win. Silverstone should have been his but he had a DNF on the car."
Curiously, looking at whatever might be the root of Russell's issues, the Austrian suggested that Antonelli's relative inexperience may be helping him.
"I think, first of all, it's very different," he said. "And I think this is probably an advantage that Kimi has because it started, it reset for everyone.
"Then the component of energy harvesting and energy deployment plays a role. Even the way you go on the throttle, whether you give it a full throttle or half, and when you lift off, can have a consequence in terms of the energy delivery. And that's another dimension that has been added to the driving. Now, some drivers may not like it. Others may say, okay, we just need to get used to it. But it's another component that makes it more complex."
Naturally, Wolff's claim that the Mercedes is "the most powerful power unit", drew attention on social media, if not in the mainstream or specialist press, and while it flies in the face of the ADUO findings, it is entirely possible that he was referring to the electrical side of the power unit and not the ICE on which ADUO is based.
Then again...
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