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Mercedes' Niki Lauda believes that Sebastian Vettel is well and truly the favourite for the 2017 title. The Austrian who joined Mercedes in 2012 thinks that after the first six rounds of the 2017 championship, Vettel is Mercedes' biggest threat.
Vettel has won three of the Grands Prix so far, while Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton have shared the spoils for the Brackley based team. However, after Monaco, they sit behind Ferrari in the championship, while Vettel leads the driver standings by 25 points.
"Vettel won because he was faster when Raikkonen stopped," Lauda, Mercedes' team chairman, told Sky Italia. "Do I look happy? Ferrari always has a slice of my heart. They were perfect and we were not. The championship? It's going in the direction of Vettel but there are still many races.
Lauda also believes that if Vettel doesn't have any mechanical issues throughout the season, the championship is already over: "On Monday I was still angry, but now we have to find the right tyre window. Another thing is clear: Vettel must have a failure, otherwise it is over. Ferrari are in a real flow and if this continues, the gap is enormous," he said.
Fergal Walsh
yes. but mercedes is having reliability issues as well, think of bottas´ waterleak and the blown engine in spain...
--> Of course they don´t have the 4th turbo in the car but it´s going to be a huge challenge up until the end even for Merc. Especially if they can use "Strat 6" like in Monaco as engine setting.
It is anything but over. There are two tracks within four weeks from now, and both tracks look at Mercedes' car with adoring puppy eyes, even if Singapore still glares at it with a devious grin decorating it's tarmac. And then we have Spa, Monza, Interlagos and Suzuka, three tracks that in theory should benefit Ferrari, but also three tracks Mercedes has been very strong at these last seasons.
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f1fan0101
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Still a looong way to go