F1: Ferrari and McLaren pushing to catch Mercedes

Ferrari ran the entire Australian Grand Prix with electrical issues, which meant that both Alonso and Raikkonen were unable to run the F14T at full pace. Despite the issues, the engines still provided enough performance and was reliable enough to drive Alonso and Raikkonene to a comfortable 4th and 7th respectively. That said, 4th and 7th aren’t exactly Ferrari’s targets. Their aim, is to improve the performance of both the chassis and powerplant to make their challenger as competitive as the works Mercedes. According to James Allison, the F14T was a phenomenal car in the high speed bends, but was compromised by the unstable braking systems and the lower top speed.  McLaren are striving to play catch up too. Despite spending most of last season sketching the MP4-29, the car lacked some top end performance and grip, meaning it has less pace than the Mercedes W05. The McLaren team claimed a double podium finish in Melbourne, but it is evident that on one lap pace at least, they were still lagging behind the Silver Arrows. With 2 potential race winners in both their cars, the pressure is on to deliver a chassis worthy of their drivers.   Pictures used for illustration purposes only.