F1: Marko again questions Hamilton's unfair rocket engine

Lewis Hamilton’s engine at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was so fast Hamilton passed every car in the field on the straight like it was standing still. It has again been called into question by Red Bull chief Helmut Marko.

The Mercedes driver won the race despite starting in 10th place having been given a penalty for taking a new power unit. Little did anyone know at the time the engine was installed that Mercedes had found a lot of extra HP. It was called a ‘rocket’ engine.

Hamilton was disqualified during qualifying and then went from 20th to fifth during sprint qualifying, such was the power of his engine.

Race winner Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium. Verstappen has had 31 podiums in his last 33 finishes. 27 of them were in the top 2. All while fighting the superior Mercedes W10, W11 and W12. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Hamilton then started the race in 10th but raced past rival Max Verstappen like the Red Bull driver was towing an anchor to win a Grand Prix for the first time in three races.

He went on to win in Qatar and Saudi Arabia and would have won in Abu Dhabi if Mercedes did not make a strategic error and not pit Hamilton for fresh tires like Red Bull did for Verstappen.

However, Hamilton’s engine was called into question in Brazil because it seemed much more powerful than any of the other five Hamilton ran all year long.

Red Bull’s Dr. Helmut Marko has labelled Hamilton’s car a ‘miracle weapon’ but steered clear of suggesting that any rules were broken.

“It was only amazing, there are six Mercedes-powered vehicles and only Hamilton had such a miracle weapon,” he told Formel 1.

“But that’s the case, and we don’t want to accuse anything about it.”

He added: “How Hamilton flew past us was a unique situation this year.

“All the top speed measurements were then back within the scope afterwards.

“Everything fit together optimally on this engine, we also know that.”

Cars from McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams are all powered by a Mercedes engine.

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has said that he saw no difference in any Mercedes power unit data compared to Hamilton’s engine in Brazil.

“When I look into the data, and we compare the data from other teams, I don’t see there was ever an extraordinary, spicy engine around (compared to Hamilton’s),” Seidl said, as quoted by FormulaRapida.net