Mercedes designer Aldo Costa says he doubts his W05 will dominate the entire 2014 season. Lewis Hamilton took pole with the new silver single seater and Nico Rosberg dominated the season-opening race in Melbourne, with many observers believing the German driver had hidden performance to spare on the Albert Park roads. But Italian Costa, who joined Mercedes from Ferrari and led the design of the new W05, does not think the German marque will dominate throughout 2014.
"No, I don't think we can talk about dominance," he told the Italian magazine Autosprint. "We have seen the progress that Red Bull made between the Bahrain test and the first race -- they were much more competitive than they were in winter testing. This gives an indication of how fast progress and the resolution of problems is in formula one," said Costa. "And it may well be that in a few grands prix many other teams will be at a good level," he added.
Costa, 52, agrees that the performance of the 'power unit' is particularly important in F1's new era, but he doubts that Mercedes is as far ahead of Ferrari and Renault as some currently believe. Asked if rumours of a 50 horse power advantage for Mercedes make sense, he answered: "No, I don't think they do."
"Let me explain: as teams, we have GPS data, so I think everyone can see that, when it's running at full power, the Renault engine has remarkable performance. So probably their deficit at this time is that they cannot maintain this level of performance throughout a race because of temperature, or fatigue. But I think that this is a problem that will gradually be solved," Costa added. (GMM)
Designer does not think Mercedes will dominate entire season
- Published on 25 Mar 2014 11:46
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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L. Hamilton
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Feb 11
L. Norris
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Feb 12
C. Leclerc
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Feb 13
A. Antonelli
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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G. Russell
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A. Antonelli
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
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Spain
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Bahrain
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Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
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Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
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Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
26 - Jun 28
Austria
Red Bull Ring
3 - Jul 5
United Kingdom
Silverstone
17 - Jul 19
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
24 - Jul 26
Hungary
Hungaroring
21 - Aug 23
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Driver profile
- Team Ferrari
- Points 3,716
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- Grand Prix 244
- Country GB
- Date of b. Jan 7 1985 (41)
- Place of b. Tewin, GB
- Weight 68 kg
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- 485,176 comments on Ferrari
67 members have this team as their favourite
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Team profile
- Team name Mercedes
- Base Brackley, Germany
- Michael Schumacher 3
- Nico Rosberg 4
- Nico Rosberg 6
- Michael Schumacher 7
- Nico Rosberg 8
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- Nico Rosberg 9
- Lewis Hamilton 10
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli 12
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- George Russell 63
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- 638,728 comments on Mercedes
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- Tweets about Mercedes
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