Niki Lauda has dismissed claims Mercedes is set to dominate the 2014 season because the German carmaker spent more on its new turbo V6 ‘power unit’.<\/p>\n
“It is no secret,” Renault-powered Lotus’ team owner Gerard Lopez said this week, “that we face an extremely well-resourced rival in Mercedes who have dedicated considerable efforts to their power units for the 2014 season.”<\/p>\n
Red Bull’s Christian Horner added this week: “They (Mercedes) invested more, they invested earlier.”<\/p>\n
Former F1 driver Gerhard Berger told the APA news agency: “They (Mercedes) are ahead of the game because they invested more money.”<\/p>\n
And even Ferrari is claiming it has been out-powered in the resources department by Mercedes as F1 makes its revolutionary technical shift.<\/p>\n
“If we had more time,” boss Stefano Domenicali told Italy’s Autosprint, “maybe we would be more prepared for the start of the season.<\/p>\n
“The complexity of this project is really high and our resources are, so to speak, limited.”<\/p>\n
Domenicali said that on the other hand, Mercedes has “more specific” engine-related “firepower”, that has “exaggerated” the early phase of F1’s new era.<\/p>\n
“It is clear that they have been in a position to arrive at the start having solved all the problems that we have only found,” the Italian insisted.<\/p>\n
But Lauda, who is Mercedes’ F1 chairman, disputes the claim that Mercedes is so far ahead.<\/p>\n
“We will only know when the first three races are over,” he told RTL television, “but I think Ferrari is on roughly the same level as Mercedes.<\/p>\n
“The only one that really struggles at the moment is Renault.\u00a0 They do not have the reliability that we have, simply because we have done a better job.<\/p>\n
“But that has nothing to do with money,” Lauda insisted.<\/p>\n
Told, however, that Mercedes has clearly invested more than its rivals in the development of its new V6, the great Austrian answered: “No.<\/p>\n
“Our team is the same as it has been; the investments for all three engine manufacturers are the same.<\/p>\n
“Nothing has changed in the basic structure of the three companies,” said Lauda.<\/p>\n
He also thinks Renault is probably not far away from solving its problems, however dramatic the French marque’s situation appears.<\/p>\n
“We all know that in formula one, rapid development jumps are possible,” said Lauda.<\/p>\n
“And if Renault just has software problems, it (Renault’s recovery) could be really fast.”<\/p>\n
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