Mercedes denies 'deceiving' with practice pace

Both Ferrari and Mercedes have urged F1 fans to take little notice of the results of practice sessions.

In Baku, it appeared that Ferrari had once again gotten the upper hand in 2019, only for Mercedes to cruise to a 1-2 in both qualifying and the race.

One theory is that Mercedes deliberately sandbags in practice.

"We are not trying to deceive anyone," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists.

"You could say 'Enough, stop. This is the fourth time'. But we actually believe that we still have much to understand and improve about our new car," he said.

"Our success in the first races is due to many factors. The team made no mistakes, the right strategy decisions, and the drivers have been perfect.

"All of that allowed us to win the . . .