But long-running Mercedes impress with the W06's reliability
Wednesday 4 February 2015 07:52, UK
Nico Rosberg has admitted that Ferrari’s table-topping pace in pre-season testing has been an “eye-opener”.
While the long-running Rosberg and reigning world champions Mercedes have dominated the lap count during the opening exchanges at Jerez, a Ferrari-powered car has topped the timesheets on each of the first three days of winter testing in Spain.
After the Scuderia's new signing Sebastian Vettel led the way on Sunday and Monday, only the Ferrari-engined Sauber of Felipe Nasr, running on soft tyres, prevented Kimi Raikkonen from clinching a clean sweep on Day Three.
While lap times set during testing are notoriously unreliable, Mercedes insiders have admitted they were impressed by the 1:20.984 set by Vettel on Day Two in Jerez with the Silver Arrows’ best effort so far a 1:21.982 from Rosberg.
“Of course we are keeping an eye on the opposition and Ferrari have been an eye-opener for us during the last couple of days,” acknowledged Rosberg. “Still, we are confident we will start the season well and be strong in development.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner accused Mercedes of “showing off” when Rosberg set 157 laps on Sunday, a tally he all-but matched on Tuesday in the course of registering a best-of-day count of 151. But the German has insisted that Mercedes’ determination to rack up the miles was a strategic decision rather than a mischievous tactic.
“Our goal has been mileage because reliability was our weakness last year and so we are focused on that,” he explained. “It’s important to see the problems now because you then have time before Melbourne. If you have problems in Barcelona there is only a short time to Melbourne so it’s more difficult to solve them. Anything you can find here will be easier to fix and that’s why it’s so important to get the miles down.”
The Sky Sports F1 Online team will be providing live commentary from all four days of testing in Jerez – from dawn on Sunday to dusk on Wednesday. Sky Sports News HQ will also have live updates from trackside.
