SAKHIR, Bahrain — Mercedes’ dominance in Formula One looked all set to continue this year after pre-season testing found them still dramatically quicker than the rest of the teams and a one-two in Australia looked likely to set the precedent for the rest of the campaign.
While the same Lewis Hamilton win and Nico Rosberg runner-up formula also appeared in China, those races sandwiched some renewed excitement at the Malaysian Grand Prix as Sebastian Vettel drove his Ferrari to victory.
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Vettel and Ferrari cohort Kimi Raikkonen’s places at the top of the grid this year have temporarily hastened early season declarations that F1 was becoming boring and predictable.
The German, in his first season with the Italian team, has two third place finishes to his name and that win in Malaysia from his opening three races.
It means the former Red Bull man is sitting 13 points behind leader Hamilton and five clear of Rosberg in the drivers’ championship.
Raikkonen has been unable as of yet to break into the top three in 2015 but two fourth-place runs since the disappointment of retiring in Melbourne show that his Ferrari also has the pace to compete.
In Bahrain’s first two practice sessions, this has once again proven to be true.
While Rosberg leads Hamilton at the top, Raikkonen and Vettel sit third and fourth respectively having showed promising speed early on in Sakhir.
It is something not going unnoticed in the media centre or by the two teams vying for supremacy at the top.
One journalist noted “Ferrari are looking very quick”, while another agreed, hoping that it “would make for an exciting race this weekend.”
For the press pack, it is a notion built out of hope to see some competitive action on the track. For the teams and Mercedes in particular, it has been a wake-up call.
“The Ferrari looked the quickest car out there in Free Practice 2,” said Mercedes chief Toto Wolff. “We just need to get our act together and analyse it.”
Ferrari team principle Maurizio Arrivabene played down their chances of a title-winning campaign but explained that the outfit are pleased with their progress so far.
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“If I’m going to tell you that we are going to win the championship, you think that I am out of mind, like a terrace in the house,” said Arrivabene. “We are happy, of course, we are coming back, we are following our program but I think that Mercedes is still a super-strong team.”
Arrivabene was seen on Friday shielding his car from the TV cameras as the team looked over Vettel’s brakes, an incident he later explained he would “need to learn” from in his new role at Ferrari.
With Mercedes still quickest on the track, his whole team will need to take lead from Arrivabene and continue to learn how to catch Wolff and his men before they blown the house down once more.
