Favourite tag up for grabs
VETTEL AND HAMILTON DISAGREE ON WHO’S CAR IS THE FASTEST Ferrari bluffing, declares Mercedes driver.
Sebastian Vettel lapped fastest for Ferrari on the penultimate day of Formula One’s pre-season testing on Thursday but refused to accept the mantle of favourite from Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton.
The four-time champion wrapped up his preparations for the opening Australian Grand Prix on March 26 with the fastest lap yet around Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya – a 1:19.024 effort.
The German also completed a mammoth stint of 156 laps, equivalent to two-and-a-half race distances in the space of a day.
Triple champion Hamilton was second quickest in 1:19.352, 0.328 slower, with both men lapping on the fastest ultrasoft tyres.
The Briton, who completed 52 laps, but shared duties with Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas, had said on Tuesday that “Ferrari must be the favourite” and he saw nothing to change his mind two days later.
“I think Ferrari are bluffing and that they are a lot quicker than they are showing here,” said the Mercedes driver, who won 10 races last year but still lost out to his now-retired team-mate Nico Rosberg.
“They’re very close to us. It’s difficult right now to say exactly who is quicker. But they are very close, if not faster.” Bottas said Mercedes were not relaxing and “not in a comfortable situation at all.
“Ferrari are looking very strong, Red Bull can always surprise, and other teams can be strong. But Ferrari look solid, strong and fast – and who knows what their people will bring to Melbourne,” added the Finn.
Ferrari, the sport’s glamour team who are still hurting after a 2016 season without a win that left them third overall, have gone about testing with minimum fan- fare and little in the way of media activity.
With plenty of pressure on them, they have also tried to play down expectations – which Vettel continued to do on Thursday.
“I think if you look at the amount of laps Mercedes has done, if you look historically how slow they were going in the test, how much they were able to ramp it up for the races ... I think they’re the ones to beat,” he said.
McLaren, struggling to get their Honda engine up to speed, had another difficult day with Belgian rookie Stoffel Vandoorne seventh fastest but doing only 48 laps and twice bringing out the red flags in the morning session.
– Honda-powered McLaren are braced for a tough start to the Formula One season, but talk of the former champions being in ‘‘crisis’’ is overblown, executive director Zak Brown said.
“Clearly we have problems,” the American told Sky Sports television this week after the penultimate day of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya brought more breakdowns and red flags.
Belgian rookie Stoffel Vandoorne managed only 48 laps – not even a race distance and less than a third of that covered by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
“I think Melbourne is going to be tough. I would be surprised if we are where we need to be and want to be by Melbourne. So it’s going to be a tough start to the year,” said Brown.
The season starts in Australia on March 26 and Brown said the whole team was pulling together to address the issues “so I think crisis would be a bit strong”.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso was critical of McLaren’s engine partners this week, telling Spanish reporters that everyone in the team was ready to win ‘‘apart from Honda’’.
“We have only one problem, that is the power unit,” said the Spaniard, who will be out of contract at the end of the season and has been unable to get much test mileage under his belt.
McLaren have had a torrid time since they renewed their previously successful partnership with the Japanese manufacturer.
In 2015, their first year together, the former champions endured their worst season and finished ninth overall after a spate of power unit failures. In 2016 they had better reliability but still only finished sixth.
Clearly we have problems. So it’s going to be a tough start to the year. Zak Brown McLaren’s executive director