Though Ferrari has reportedly made a 10 horsepower gain in engine performance for 2018, Mercedes could usurp it with what Lewis Hamilton has dubbed the "party mode".
One of the main stories from last year was the German manufacturer's ability to unleash extra power in qualifying, something that often guaranteed pole positions when their rivals were close.
Matching that peak output for a short period was one of the focuses Ferrari and Red Bull supplier Renault worked on during the winter, but it seems the world champions have moved the bar another step higher.
“Our quali mode is the most fun mode – it should be the ‘party’ mode,” the world champion said. “It is the most power and has the most juice, and it’s when we hit the highest speeds.
“I think [engine boss] Andy [Cowell] and the team have definitely tested it already on the dyno and I look forward to using it on the few occasions we do in the season.”
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It was believed the Mercedes V6 hybrid at full boost was nudging the1000 horsepower last year and, though each car is limited to just three of each major mechanical element for this year, reaching that figure remains top of the agenda.
“The most positive way of looking at the championship is you’re going to produce a power unit that’s capable of doing seven races and making sure that as it crosses the line at the end of the seventh race you’ve got good confidence," Cowell told Motorsport.com.
“But what you mustn’t do is turn the power down. We need our qualifying mode to be better than ever before, we need our race mode to be better than ever before," he insisted.
