Mercedes’ rivals are drawing a direct link between the illegal Barcelona tyre test in May, and the German squad’s new winning form in 2013.<\/p>\n
Christian Horner, the boss of the Red Bull team who was highly critical of Mercedes’ involvement in the ‘test-gate’ scandal, said the Brackley based team must now be considered a “serious rival” for the title alongside Ferrari and Lotus.<\/p>\n
Indeed, while Mercedes already had a grip on pole position, Nico Rosberg has won two of the three grands prix since that highly controversial 1000km tyre test in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
“Others need to judge,” Horner, when asked if there is a direct link between Mercedes’ new form and ‘test-gate’, was quoted as saying by Speed Week.<\/p>\n
“I’ll just ask: how many races in 2013 did they win before the test?” he added, knowing that the answer is zero.<\/p>\n
Red Bull designer Adrian Newey added: “Mercedes have been clearly better with the tyres since the tyre test in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
“Draw your own conclusions,” the Briton told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.<\/p>\n
Lotus’ Eric Boullier has a similar view.<\/p>\n
“That Mercedes won two of the three races after the test is a fact.\u00a0 So the conclusion is easy,” he said.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, Mercedes director Toto Wolff doesn’t agree, and in fact he argues that the team’s progress was even hampered by the scandal.<\/p>\n
“We were very busy the last couple of weeks getting prepared for the international tribunal,” he told F1’s official website.<\/p>\n
“A lot of grey cells that normally concentrate on making the car better were working on the (court) documentation.”<\/p>\n
Team boss Ross Brawn, however, insists he isn’t bothered about what his rivals say.<\/p>\n
“It shows they take us seriously now,” he said.<\/p>\n
Chairman Niki Lauda agrees: “If the others are still upset about it, I’m pleased, because it means they are distracted.”<\/p>\n
And Auto Motor und Sport claims Mercedes should continue to make progress, with the team’s budget set to increase from EUR 145 to 190 million.<\/p>\n
“Now we are improving by at least a tenth every race,” said Lauda, “whereas in the past years we always went backwards in the second half of the season.”<\/p>\n
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