Brawn insists 'there's still time for Ferrari to fight back'

Despite Mercedes' record opening run of four consecutive one-two finishes, Ferrari still has time to "fight back" and challenge its arch-rival for the title insists F1 sporting manager Ross Brawn.

Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton upheld Mercedes' track record of supremacy in Azerbaijan. But early on in Baku, Ferrari appeared to have the upper hand over the German team in terms of pure pace.

However, Charles Leclerc's blunder in qualifying and Sebastian Vettel's inability to hang on to the Silver Arrows pair on race day meant another painful defeat for the House of Maranello.

• Mercedes mindset focused on improvements, not one-two finishes

Many believe Ferrari's loss was rooted in its decision to run in Q2 on Pirelli's medium tyre, but Brawn says the Scuderia made the right decision.

"The decision to try to qualify in Q2 on the medium tyre was the right one in my opinion, because on the softs, Mercedes had shown they had a better race pace on Friday afternoon," said Brawn in his post-weekend race debrief.

"If Charles had managed to get ahead of them in Q3 – and there was a chance of that – and then run a long first stint, as he went on to do, then he would have been in with a good chance of finishing at the front.

“Unfortunately for him, despite a strong climb up the order, he finished fifth, for the third time this year. And I doubt that taking an extra point for setting the fastest race lap would have cheered him up.

"However, even after this race, he bears all the hallmarks of a driver on the way up, destined for great things."

After the fourth round of the world championship, Mercedes' lead in the Constructors' standings has now grown to 74 points. Yet Brawn believes the title fight is far from over.

"As the first tranche of races that make up this long championship comes to an end in Baku, one could ask oneself if we can still expect to see at least two teams fighting it out for the titles," said F1's managing director of motorsport.

"At the moment, a negative response would seem logical, given that Mercedes has taken four consecutive one-two finishes, but I feel there is still time for Ferrari to fight back, as it showed in two of the four races that it has what's needed to win.

"The duel between the two Mercedes drivers is definitely wide open, with Bottas and Hamilton only separated by the point scored by Bottas for fastest lap in Australia."

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