Red Bull's Christian Horner is calling for restrictions on special engine modes in F1, targeting Mercedes' ability to turn up its power unit in Q3.
Since the advent of the hybrid era in Formula 1, Mercedes has enjoyed a clear advantage in qualifying thanks to the German outfit's special engine setting, appropriately called "party mode", which delivers an extra boost of power to the Silver Arrows.
Once again, Lewis Hamilton put the advantage to good use in Saturday's qualifying session in Melbourne, leaving second-placed man Kimi Raikkonen 0.664s adrift.
Seen as an unfair advantage by Red Bull, Horner has suggested that 'parc fermé' conditions, during which a car's set-up is frozen between the end of qualifying and the start of the race, be extended to engine settings as well.
"Like you have parc ferme when the cars leave for qualifying, maybe engine modes should be the same from the moment you leave the garage to the end of the grand prix," Horner said.
"Lewis' time came predominantly between Q2 and Q3. They have a qualy mode that they don't need to use in the earlier parts of qualifying, because why stress the engine?"
Horner's remarks come after Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko said that Mercedes' supremacy on the power front will likely remain intact until 2021, when the sport ushers in a new set of regulations.
To counter the doom-and-gloom prospect for Mercedes' rivals, Marko has urged F1 and the FIA to step in and install engine parity between the German manufacturer, Ferrari, Renault and Honda.
While Renault has made progress with its power unit, Horner admits the engine's performance is still far from being on an equal par with Mercedes.
"You only have to look in [Saturday's] speed traps where all the Renault engines were grouped together with varying amounts of downforce on the car," Horner noted.
"That is where we need to make progress.
"There are bits in the pipeline. Renault are not divulging everything that they're up to but it's certainly something that we're pushing for."
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