Red Bull expect Mercedes to be threatening - Formula 1 news
Reigning world champions Red Bull are expecting Mercedes to be dangerous this year, especially at the start of the season.
The German squad appeared to be quite threatening in 2012, as they had a car capable of winning races. However, the development programme did not turn out to be
productive for them and they fell below the likes of Sauber and Williams in a few races.
However, Mercedes had made a few important changes during that season, like shifting to the coanda exhaust system, which affected their performances towards the
end of the season. The team wanted to learn some important things in order to focus on their 2013 challenger.
The main reason was that they had hired former McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton as a replacement for Michael Schumacher, who spent three years with Mercedes after
coming back to the sport.
Although Hamilton played down any chances of fighting for the championship in his debut season with Mercedes, rivals fear that things will be completely opposite.
Hamilton and his team-mate Nico Rosberg posted some threatening lap times in the final preseason test in Barcelona, which caught the attention of everyone. The
latter of the two ended up being the fastest overall.
Therefore, current champion Sebastian Vettel thinks that things will be quite challenging this year. He added, “I finally took the chance to watch some of the other
teams for a bit. Nico had a great final day of testing in his Mercedes, which shows how dangerous he and Lewis will be in the future. But there are a lot of others to keep in mind as well.”
On the other hand, Red Bull’s boss Christian Horner stated, “Mercedes have recorded some head-turning times with the programme they were operating to. Their car
looks quick, and with Lewis joining the team they will naturally take a step forward. He is worth lap time, which is why they signed him, and I'm sure they're going to be a factor this season.”
Earlier, Ferrari and Lotus have also claimed that Mercedes will definitely be a force to reckon with in the 2013 season. However, all teams are confident of their
chances too and believe that the season will be a close one.
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