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Mercedes still the head of the field - Marko

Published on 03 Mar 2017 09:04
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By: Fergal Walsh

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko thinks that despite the implications of the new technical regulations, Mercedes are still ahead of the rest of the pack.

Mercedes have dominated the sport since the introduction of the V6 Hybrid era back in 2014, and an aerodynamic overhaul is being issued this year in an attempt to make the top teams competitive with each other again.

Despite the best efforts, Marko believes that Mercedes still remain top of the class: "The driveability of their engine and the packaging are incredible," the Red Bull official told Auto Motor und Sport.

"We are still driving conservatively," Marko admitted. "Let's see how it looks when we have full power. You can hear that Mercedes is doing the same thing."

After the first week of testing, it appears that Ferrari are the closest challengers to the Silver Arrows, however Marko said it is impossible to tell this early.

"It depends on how much fuel they are using. As late as Vettel was braking into the first corner yesterday, there can't have been much in there."

It is also believed Red Bull will add a range of aerodynamic appendages at the second and final Barcelona test, but Marko said mischievously: "Our car is beautiful. And normally beautiful cars are fast. Why should we change something?"

f1fan0101

Posts: 1,804

True, but maybe people in the paddock have more of an insight?

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Mar 3 2017 - 10:58

F1 News Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Mercedes

Replies (8)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Hardly unexpected, but the real question is: will Red Bull, Ferrari or someone else be able to genuinly challenge them? Last year, Mercedes were further away than ever, winning all but two events. Ferrari's current amount of laps and the fact that they've set decent times looks nice, but is it representative?
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- Mar 3 2017 - 10:34
- f1fan0101
  
  Posts: 1,804
  Lets hope so, but I feel like it's going to take something special to challenge them
  + 0
  
  Mar 3 2017 - 10:48
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I definitely agree. Either something special or a design flaw on Mercedes' side of things, which I doubt will happen.
  + 0
  
  Mar 3 2017 - 11:31
- f1fan0101
  
  Posts: 1,804
  As long the the deficit to Mercedes hasn't increased, I'll be happy
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  Mar 3 2017 - 12:06
mclarenfan1968

Posts: 1,027
Braking late is not an indication of fuel levels. Downforce increase alone has reduced the braking distances. Now the suspension systems have higher priority, if you have more mechanical grip you can slow down faster through sheer contact forces alone without burning up tyres. if you don't have the grip you burn up tyres faster due to increased down-force.

No one can tell anything until the first race.
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- Mar 3 2017 - 10:55
- f1fan0101
  
  Posts: 1,804
  True, but maybe people in the paddock have more of an insight?
  + 1
  
  Mar 3 2017 - 10:58
- mclarenfan1968
  
  Posts: 1,027
  Nah they don't, even when they are experienced engineers, guesstiamates and assessments are still wholly based on the inputs, which are basically assumptions. If your assumptions are wrong then the formula outputs junk values.
  
  Most of these headlining claims are made by non-technical staff, pretty much always.
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  Mar 3 2017 - 15:01
boudy

Posts: 1,168
It's a ploy to make them comfortable and therefore push less where as Red Bull will push like hell. It's a strategy. It's going to be close between the top 3.
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- Mar 3 2017 - 15:41