Ferrari has emerged as a potential challenger to Mercedes dominance, with Niki Lauda predicting that the prancing horse could be their closest competition.
Ferrari has topped the timing screens on day one and two of the test and was second quickest on day three, whilst the fastest combined lap so far also has Ferrari’s name against it.
That’s led to some speculating that Ferrari have indeed closed the gap to the front of the grid. One of those is Mercedes chairman Lauda who called it a “big surprise”.
“I deliberately put on my red sweater on Tuesday to motivate our guys. Ferrari could be our main opponents in 2015,” he said.
Nico Rosberg was also wary of the Italian team’s pace in Jerez.
“We are keeping an eye on the opposition,” he said. “Especially Ferrari which has been an eye-opener in the last couple of days.”
Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen also had good things to report when he stepped out of the SF15-T, describing it as “completely different” to last year’s car.
“You usually know if a car is good or not, and this year is a completely different story than last year as I had a good feeling straight away when I went out,” he enthused.
Some aren’t so convinced however. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr is certain the Mercedes-powered cars are keeping their pace under-wraps for now, as is Pirelli’s Paul Hembery.
“I didn’t see them running what [they] could do 100 per cent,” he said. “I think maybe they are hiding a little bit of what they can do,” said the Brazilian.
Whilst Hembery added: “It’s still early. The Ferrari looks good, but I still see Mercedes as the favourite, based on what they did in 2014.”
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