David Coulthard believes the championship will most likely be won by a Mercedes-powered car this year, but he isn’t ruling out a fight from Ferrari and Red Bull.
So far, the Mercedes-powered cars – Mercedes, McLaren, Force India and Williams – have completed the most mileage, proving that reliability may be their strong point.
But they have also shown pace with those four often topping the times during pre-season testing, leading Coulthard to believe one of them will be celebrating at the end of the year.
“If I had to put money on it today, I would think that one of the Mercedes powered Formula One cars would be right up there,” he told the Metro when asked who he thought would take the 2014 title.
However the 42-year-old warned that things can change quickly in F1, and it would be foolish to write-off the sport’s heavy hitters.
“Ferrari have also been going about their business quietly but, the way things can change so swiftly in F1, that may not be the same a month or two down the line.
“It is ten years since they [Red Bull] started and not many people gave them a hope of winning a GP let alone a championship, let alone four,” he added.
“They have got there because of the harmony of the team from top to bottom and because of that tremendous work ethic. They have a strong team, though, with the engineers and technical staff all willing to put in long, long hours to get it right.”
