Inside Line: Toto, Kimi wants to know how much more you have

Speaking after an uneventful drive to fourth place in the Russian Grand Prix, Kimi told reporters, "We went as fast as we could but they were faster. Did they push as much as they needed? Probably not, just enough to keep us behind."

Did they push as much as they needed?

That's the key question one could ask since the advent of the hybrid turbo era in 2014. It is no secret that Mercedes excelled in the engineering and delivered an astounding PU package, a masterpiece of automotive tehcnology that has set the pace from the moment it was run in anger.

No one else has stood a chance since then. Mercedes are heading for ten F1 world titles in five years, how often have we reported that Ferrari has closed the gap? Countless times.

Did they close the gap? Of course not! Mercedes have been playing with them, playing with us all.

Credit to them for at times allowing the others a small chomp at the pie, but the stats don't lie: since 2014 Mercedes have won 70 times, their rivals have combined to win 27 times.

And that's the crux of the matter, Mercedes know how much they have in reserve and exactly how much to release each time they need to reassert themselves. After the thumping they received at Spa-Francorchamps they dialled it up and Lewis Hamilton has won three on a trot.

The fact that Lewis has the best car on the grid should not be held against him, because with his current form he would be winning the championship if he were driving the Ferrari that Sebastian Vettel has at his disposal.

Lewis is the best driver on the grid at the moment, with maybe Max Verstappen the only other guy on his level currently. This is not about him, they give him a great car and he makes the most of it, that's his job.

Headlines during the Sochi weekend were all about the mystery of the pace that vanished from Ferrari, but it is clear nothing much has changed with the SF71H.

When Kimi was asked what caused the sudden deficit, he replied, "I don’t know, we’re a bit behind in pure speed, but in the race the car feels OK. But we need to go a bit faster everywhere."

“The car gave a really good feeling, especially after the pit stops, but we need more speed overall. There’s nothing that feels somehow bad or difficult, it’s just that we need to be faster around the lap, everywhere."

Asked if he felt Mercedes have found more horsepower, the 2007 F1 World Champion replied, “At least in the last couple of places where we’ve been, yes. Who knows what they’ve done."

"Let’s see in the next race if it’s still the same or not. Hopefully, it’s a slightly different story, more like it was a little while ago. I guess they found something.”

I am in the camp that firmly believes "they found something" long ago - back in 2014 power units became a thing - keeping the excess bhp in storage and releasing it on tap when needed, while not overdoing it so as not to piss off fans with their dominance.

A visual of puppetmaster Toto Wolff running his own F1-style Truman Show pops into mind.

It is pretty clear that after Spa, Toto ordered them to dial it up some more, simultaneously Lewis found some extra magic, while their rivals cocked up big time, and the rest is now history.

Finally, a classic Kimi chirp when asked how he motivates himself under the circumstances: “Maybe have some beers, I don’t know…”