Mark Webber believes Lotus poses a greater threat to the championship than Mercedes, despite the latter’s recent pace which has seen it win three of the last five races.
The Australian, who sits 67-points off the lead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel, reckons Mercedes won’t be as dominant as they have been recently at upcoming circuits – and says Lewis Hamilton’s win is the result of his brilliance in Hungary.
“I think we had Mercedes covered at the Nurburgring,” Webber said on Thursday. “Budapest; Lewis is very special at Budapest, there’s no driver that can really touch him there in my opinion. Whereas at some other tracks he’s not that strong, but in Budapest he’s very, very strong. He proved that in a s**tbox McLaren as well, so when he won in the McLaren he was very, very strong. He’s been quick there and he proved that again in the Merc; it was a good win for him.”
Kimi Raikkonen, who sits second, is a more consistent challenger according to Webber, which is proven by the Finn’s impressive record of 27 consecutive points finishes.
“Ferrari, Lotus – compared to Mercedes – I think the Lotus is the most stable car across all tracks. Obviously they’ve been very, very good but just lost a little bit here and there. They’ve been very strong and a real threat throughout and Ferrari and Mercedes a little bit more [up and down]. I think Red Bull and Lotus have probably been a sniff more consistent at this stage.”
