Alexander Wurz: "Ferrari is close to Mercedes"

Ferrari could be closer to Mercedes this season than has been suggested in recent days and weeks. That is the view of Alex Wurz, who admitted that whether Ferrari can take on the German team is the big unanswered question ahead of the Melbourne season opener.

"We have seen in the tests that they are close together," the former F1 driver and current GPDA president said. "Red Bull will also get involved at some circuits," he told Der Standard newspaper. "But my gut feeling is that they are still two, three tenths behind."

However, many believe Mercedes is clearly in the lead, but Wurz is not so sure. "It's a similar picture to last year. Everyone thought Mercedes was bluffing but then Ferrari was extremely fast. On the long runs Mercedes has a slight but insignificant advantage. It's in the time range in which the daily fluctuations of the drivers and the teams makes the difference," Wurz added.

Meanwhile, Wurz said it is good that all of the F1 drivers have now signed up for the Grand Prix Drivers' Association that he leads. "We are all together in a single boat and must think together about formula one, even if there are many political camps in this sport," he said. "This is very important, as all the drivers - and 100pc of the drivers are GPDA members - have said that we must be fully committed to the sport rather than just as individuals," Wurz added. (GMM)