Given Mercedes’ dominance in Australia, the German marque’s rivals have now begun their chase.<\/p>\n
Second on the road in Melbourne was the later-disqualified Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.<\/p>\n
“When you think about where they were three weeks ago,” said Mercedes’ Toto Wolff, “then we need to be really aware of what they are capable of.<\/p>\n
“We are yet to see a reliable Vettel, and when that happens he’ll be really fast,” the German told Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper.<\/p>\n
Williams is currently regarded as the second-fastest team behind Mercedes, but technical boss Pat Symonds is expecting a tough fight in 2014.<\/p>\n
“Look at how quickly Renault has caught up,” he told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.\u00a0 “Three weeks ago they were nowhere, suddenly they have a car that can be second.”<\/p>\n
Indeed, a lot of the responsibility for Red Bull’s issues is in engine supplier Renault’s court.<\/p>\n
“It is obvious that we are slower on the straights than Mercedes,” the French marque’s Remi Taffin is quoted by Italiaracing.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know if it’s a second, and it’s definitely more than a tenth, but there are no unsolvable problems,” he insisted.<\/p>\n
Also chasing Mercedes hard are McLaren and Ferrari.<\/p>\n
“We believe that their (Mercedes’) advantage is between five tenths and three quarters of a second,” McLaren team boss Eric Boullier is quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo.<\/p>\n
“From our side we wanted above all to develop a reliable car, as we think it is essential to win a lot of points early in the season.<\/p>\n
“Then we will have a very aggressive development,” said Boullier.<\/p>\n
“We need to catch up with Mercedes but also other teams that will be successful when their engine is as well.”<\/p>\n
Ferrari agrees that, despite a disappointing opening weekend in Australia, nothing is lost in terms of the overall battle for the 2014 title.<\/p>\n
“I honestly believe that there is time for this team to fight for this world championship,” boss Stefano Domenicali is quoted by the Spanish sports newspaper AS.<\/p>\n
“Sure, it will not be easy, but of course there is time and we have the resources to do everything possible to bring it about.”<\/p>\n
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