Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley has backed Mercedes, amid calls for the FIA to step in and equalise engine performance.
Red Bull have called on the governing body to make drastic changes to keep the grid competitive and to halt Mercedes’ dominance. Bernie Ecclestone has also thrown his support behind the proposal.
However Smedley, whose Williams team uses Mercedes engines, believes the Anglo-German team deserves the success it’s currently enjoying because it did a better job than its rivals.
“I don’t think it is bad for the sport at all,” he said. “I think Formula 1 is about levels of excellence. I think they [Mercedes] are now the absolute benchmark, the levels of excellence that they have attained in the whole operation is outstanding, and I take my hat off to them.
You work hard enough and you do everything right then there are rewards
– Rob Smedley
“They have done an absolutely fantastic job I’m not going to bitch and moan that they are quicker than us.”
Smedley worked with Ferrari when it enjoyed success and he says it’s only fair that a team is rewarded for their hard work, which can’t simply be undone by a rule to penalise them and to make others happy.
“I’ve been in situations in a team where we have been dominant and now I’m in a team where there is another team which is dominant.
“If you work hard enough and you do everything right then there are rewards and they have worked hard,” he added.
“I think it is good for the sport because it shows how hard everyone is pushing. It shows they are pushing really hard and the sport should be about technical excellence.
“We at Williams shouldn’t be waiting for them to drop the ball, we should be looking to try an obtain and surpass what they are doing.”
That’s a view shared by Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff who called on his rivals to “get their heads down and work harder” to catch up.
