![\"Jenson-Button-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/gallery\/f1-2014-rif-images\/f1-2014-drivers\/Jenson-Button-1.jpg\")
But what about Red Bull?\u00a0 Many believe the reigning world champions’ only deficit to Mercedes is the underpowered Renault engine.<\/p>\nToto Wolff has entered the Spanish grand prix weekend predicting that Ferrari could be Mercedes’ biggest challenger over the entire 2014 season.<\/p>\n
But what about Red Bull?\u00a0 Many believe the reigning world champions’ only deficit to Mercedes is the underpowered Renault engine.<\/p>\n
When asked about Wolff’s assessment that Ferrari is the main threat, Daniel Ricciardo on Thursday answered: “I didn’t hear that, but maybe it’s just psychological.”<\/p>\n
Publicly, Mercedes is saying that, despite winning every race so far this year, Barcelona – with few straights and after a three-week calendar break – could be the Brackley team’s biggest test of the season so far.<\/p>\n
McLaren’s Jenson Button isn’t so sure.<\/p>\n
“Mercedes don’t have any competition,” he said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to be tough for anyone else to win a grand prix this year.”<\/p>\n
Button explained that, even though the chasers are doing everything to close the gap, Mercedes are also working hard to improve the already-dominant W05 car.<\/p>\n
Williams’ Felipe Massa picks up the theme.<\/p>\n
“Even if the opponents find 1.5 seconds, it is not enough to beat Mercedes because they are developing as well,” he is quoted by Speed Week.<\/p>\n
“If Mercedes only improves half a second or one second in the course of the season – and that is really conservative – they would still preserve their lead until the end of the season,” Massa explained.<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso seemed to be turning Ferrari’s poor season around last time out in China with a surprise podium result, but he is not confident he can repeat it in Barcelona for his home supporters.<\/p>\n
“If I tell you I will fight for the podium, probably I will lie to you and I don’t want to lie to all the people that are coming,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We are bringing some new parts but nothing different compared to any other top team, or even less,” Alonso added.<\/p>\n
Red Bull has also improved for Barcelona, but team boss Christian Horner told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport it is “evolution not revolution”.<\/p>\n
“Surely, ultimately we are here to win,” world champion Sebastian Vettel said on Thursday.\u00a0 “Right now, obviously, we have Mercedes in a very, very strong position.\u00a0 Difficult to beat but never impossible.”<\/p>\n
If Mercedes’ rivals sound downbeat, perhaps it is because many paddock insiders believe the silver-clad team has been winning its races in 2014 at as slow a pace as possible.<\/p>\n
“If you analyse the races,” Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost said, “I don’t think that they have shown their real potential for a whole race distance.<\/p>\n
“They show it just for a few laps because for them there is no need to show it for longer,” he told F1’s official website.<\/p>\n
“Think about when there is a safety car phase — after ten laps they are something like 20 seconds ahead again!\u00a0 That means that they are playing around.”<\/p>\n
Still, Alonso said that if Ferrari cannot be the main challenger in Spain, he hopes at least Red Bull can give Mercedes a reason to look behind their shoulders.<\/p>\n
“The Red Bull has been very fast when there are many corners,” he is quoted by Spain’s Diario Sport.<\/p>\n
“Here in Barcelona there is only one straight, so I think they will be very fast here.”<\/p>\n
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