Despite the war of upgrades in the midfield likely to set the tone for the build up coverage into this weekend, Alain Prost believes that one of his old teams has the car to take it to the title. The Drivers World Championship has eluded the prancing horse since Kimi Raikkonen’s successes in 2007, but Prost thinks that 2018 will be the year in which the draught ends. He told Auto Bild:
“I made a mistake last year when I said that every time there is a change of regulation, Ferrari was rarely there.
“In the winter Mercedes and Red Bull seemed to be a little better, but it turned out that they [Ferrari] are there in qualifying and tyre management.
“And also Kimi Raikkonen is there at Sebastian Vettel‘s level which will be a great help. I think this year Ferrari can win.”
Prost went on to state that he believes that their gains in the power unit this season surpass aerodynamic improvements.
For this weekend, the front-row to win conversion rate for the Spanish Grand Prix will make for pleasant reading for Ferrari. The car is edging it on one lap pace relative to its rivals, and an all-red front row this weekend would be bad news for Mercedes and Red Bull.
The four time World Champion Prost spent two of his later seasons with Ferrari 1990 and 1991. In his first year with the team, he finished second overall and picked up five victories for the iconic team.
Can Ferrari extend its lead in the Constructors this weekend and will Vettel reclaim the lead in the championship? We feel that their closest rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, are going to need stellar weekends to beat them in Barcelona.
The Ferrari is cleary on top of tyre temperatures and operating windows too, this will be a huge factor on the new track surface that Pirelli has had to compensate for with thinner treads. These treads are expected to reduce heat generated in the rears by around 10 degrees, giving them an easier time. But this indicates that those teams prone to overheating the tyres may be in for a long weekend.
