George Russell is confident Mercedes will not be hampered by the ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) system this year.
The FIA has introduced the new regulation to support struggling manufacturers in the first year of the latest technical cycle.
Performance is measured against a benchmark to determine how much additional assistance is required, with Honda expected to receive a significant boost in development allowance due to its lacklustre start.
F1 already has a comparable system in place for aerodynamics, known as ATR, which allocates more wind tunnel time to teams lower down the order.
Russell has predicted a similar scenario will unfold in engine development and has backed the strongest engineering teams to come out on top.
“If you look at the aero regulations ATR from the chassis side, it still proves that the team with the brightest engineers and the best way of working still come out on top,” he told media including RacingNews365.
“Of course, we'd love to have more wind tunnel time, we'd love to have more dyno time.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has questioned the system and insisted it should not be used as an opportunity to cause a change in the pecking order.
Russell is not expecting that to be the case, stating: “I still believe in the team and I still believe it's not going to help us.
“But I don't think it's going to hurt things or change things too drastically.”
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
Read Original Article