Was the Malaysian Grand Prix a one off for Ferrari? Or are they true Formula One World Championship title contenders?
The dominance of Mercedes in Australia would suggest that Ferrari still have some way to go to be on par with the reigning Formula One World Champions.
A combination of high temperatures and better tyre management and strategy opened a window of opportunity for Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel in Malaysia and they took it and announced that ‘Ferrari is back’.
It had Mercedes noticeably wobbled, but in China the dominance of Australia was back with 2014 Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton topping all three practice sessions, taking pole position and winning the race.
Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, for all his in-car complaining, came home in a comfortable second place to secure a one-two finish.
But the current status-quo is not set to continue throughout 2015 according to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
The 2007 Formula One World Champion believes that whilst Ferrari have closed the gap significantly to Mercedes there is more to come from the Scuderia and when those improvements come Ferrari will be in a position to regularly beat Mercedes.
‘We have made big gains and we will continue to make big gains during this year.
‘Obviously everybody will improve, so it depends what the rest are doing, but we are definitely going the right way and doing the right things. he told Sky Sports.
‘It is about being patient. We need time, we cannot make miracles overnight.
‘Sebastian showed we can win, but it depends as one circuit may be better for one team and the next could be a different story.
‘We just need to be up there when something happens to them, or the conditions change, but I really feel on speed we will get there to regularly beat them.’
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