Experts doubt Ferrari can win title this year

  • Published on 12 Apr 2016 14:05
  • comments 4
  • By: Rob Veenstra

Two former F1 drivers do not think Ferrari is ready to beat Mercedes to the world championship. "No," Gerhard Berger, a 10-time grand prix winner and former team boss, told Germany's Auto Bild emphatically. "The gap Mercedes had at the end of last year was just too big -- Ferrari can't catch it up this quickly," he predicted.

David Coulthard agrees that, notwithstanding the fact Ferrari is obviously closer so far in 2016, Mercedes will surely maintain the edge this season. "I expect them to win the championship again this year," the former McLaren and Red Bull driver, now a respected British television pundit, told Laureus. "To dominate I think is going to be difficult, I do think Ferrari will keep them on their toes, but I do see the championship battle to be between the two Mercedes drivers," Coulthard added.

To that end, he thinks early leader Nico Rosberg finally has a good chance of beating reigning triple world championship Lewis Hamilton to the crown. "The statistics say that every driver who has won five races in a row will be world champion. It would be a shame if Nico Rosberg breaks that run," he said.

Hamilton, however, is notably upbeat, insisting he remains in championship-winning form despite not winning in Australia and Bahrain. "Hopefully this race (China) can be the turning point," the Briton said on Monday.

Shanghai could be an interesting strategic battle. Rosberg has selected more soft tyres to use throughout the weekend than Hamilton, while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has put more super-softs in the luggage.

"Every team is bound to want to qualify on the super-soft," said Mercedes' Paddy Lowe, "but if it grains in the race, we could see cars stopping in the first five laps. There will be plenty of analysis to do on Friday," he added. (GMM)

Replies (4)

Login to reply
  • Not with this set-up. They need atleast 4 tenths to be competitive. 6 tenths to win.

    • + 0
    • Apr 12 2016 - 16:32
  • khasmir

    Posts: 893

    Indeed, would be great to see them win more races and put more pressure on Merc than last year but to get even one of the two titles will be extremely difficult.
    It was always going to be a long term plan for Ferrari so maybe they can make the difference in 2017.

    • + 0
    • Apr 12 2016 - 18:45
  • They can win, but they need to fix their reliability, and fast. Its good that they redesigned that faulty injector, but thats just one problem... unless a faulty injector also could've caused Räikkönen's turbo failure in Australia? But I doubt they'll win in China, its not a good track for their car. I bet that Mercedes-powered cars will dominate this weekend, closely followed by Ferrari and then Renault/Honda somewhere last. On a sidenote, this season has been quite interesting so far.

    • + 0
    • Apr 12 2016 - 19:05
    • Yeah the pace was there to win both races with better strategy, outright pace isn't needed when you can win with clever strategies. Ferrari have been very poor with strategy calls, this has been true for the last 4-5 seasons.

      • + 0
      • Apr 13 2016 - 03:49

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Mercedes
  • Points 3,162
  • Podiums 127
  • Grand Prix 187
  • Country GB
  • Date of b. Jan 7 1985 (39)
  • Place of b. Tewin, GB
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.74 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar