Did Mercedes make a mistake by beating Ferrari? "Take what you can get"

Red Bull-affiliated simulator driver Rudy van Buren believesMercedes was correct to take second place in the Constructors'standings after a showdown with Ferrari in the Abu Dhabi seasonfinale, despite losing development time as a consequence. TheSilver Arrows had struggled to make a mark on the competition earlyon with its W14, though upgrades at the Monaco Grand Prix saw theteam take a step forward. With Lewis Hamilton and George Russelloutperforming the joint effort of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainzat Yas Marina, Mercedes ensured it would finish runner-up to RedBull at the end of a campaign dominated by the Milton Keynes-basedoutfit, which won all but one race. 'Make it or break it' F1'ssliding-scale aerodynamic testing rules dictate decreased windtunnel and CFD testing time the further up the championship a teamfinishes, with five per cent increments separating teams'allocations. This means that despite finishing behind Mercedes,Ferrari could now have an advantage for 2024 by utilising extratime in the wind tunnel over its rival. Downplaying the issue whenspeaking to RacingNews365 , van Buren explained: "We are nowtalking about that few per cent difference in the wind tunnel time- I think you should always take what you can get in terms ofchampionship. "You have to perform on the day you are there andthey did that. Did they get it as a gift because Sainz did not showup in Abu Dhabi? Yes. If you start fourteenth in a Ferrari, youhave an alternative strategy and then reach the top 10 doesn't comein? What are you doing? Then something is really wrong. "I don'tthink those few per cent in the wind tunnel will be 'make it orbreak it'. I'll stick with it, take what you can get. If that's P2,then that's P2."