’Engine championship’ means Mercedes 2015 favourite

The nature of the ’new’ F1 means Mercedes will again be hard to beat in 2015.

That is the claim of former F1 team boss Flavio Briatore, who is no fan of the regulation changes that saw Mercedes utterly dominate in 2014 with its turbo V6.

Now, he is expecting more of the same in 2015.

"The road is uphill for everyone except for Mercedes," Briatore told Italian radio Rai.

"We now have a championship for engines, not one for drivers," he argued.

"We should have a couple of tenths between the various teams, but we have one power unit that is much more powerful.

"Sooner or later we will have to go back to something more normal," Briatore, referring to talks to shake-up the technical rules for 2017, added.

"What we have now does nothing to improve the show, it is just a case of spending so much money for nothing new that is good."

The flamboyant Italian said it would be premature to say that, after struggling with its first V6 effort last year, Ferrari has caught up for 2015.

"You do not know if teams are testing with a lot of fuel in the tank or not," said Briatore.

"What is important is that Raikkonen is saying the new car is more driveable, because he represents continuity.

"But it is better to be cautious than to risk disappointment. In F1, Ferrari has to win but for this year, there will be one (team) that is hard to beat," he added.