“That would be my guess of the 3 chasers” - Mercedes chief names which F1 rivals could chase champions Red Bull in 2024

Mercedes technical director James Allison feels that Ferrari and Aston Martin, alongside the Brackley-based team, could be the three teams to challenge Red Bull during the 2024 F1 season.

Red Bull Racing dominated throughout the 2023 season, winning 21 of the 22 races held. Mercedes and Ferrari followed them up in the standings, both over 400 points apart from RBR. While beating the team earlier in the season seemed almost impossible, their competitors had significantly closed the gap later.

Giving his verdict after the end of the 2024 pre-season testing, James Allison claimed that Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin could be the three teams that could challenge RBR in the upcoming F1 season.

Formu1a.uno quoted him as saying:

"Red Bull are in front. If you look at their race run, it’s quite fierce. Behind, there are several strong teams in the chasing back – Ferrari seems OK, we [Mercedes] seem OK."

"Alonso just did a pretty fair run today. That would be my guess of the three chasers."

Allison further revealed that the W15 was slower than Ferrari on the single-lap pace but the race pace was much better.

"In precisely what order, I’m not sure. I think we looked slightly better on the long runs but a little behind Ferrari on the single-lap stuff. I think a lot will depend on who has a good week between now and then."

After a victory-less season, Mercedes are expecting the W15 to be a more competitive machine at the top.

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Andrew Shovlin reveals positive progress with the Mercedes W15

The unpredictable nature of Mercedes' earlier challenger, the W14, cost the team huge opportunities. They didn't secure any victories during the 2023 season, only managing to win one race in 2022.

Heading into the 2024 F1 season, however, the W15 is expected to be a stronger car. Adding to the same, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin revealed that the car has shown progress, labeling long runs as its 'strength.'

"We're still trying to fine-tune the set-up. There will definitely be more to come," Motorsport quoted him as saying. "Overall, we're happy. We definitely made progress. In terms of pace, the long run probably looks like our strength at the moment."

"There's more work to do on a single lap, but we should be in a position to hopefully put in a good showing when we get back on track," he added.

The W15's improvement will be analyzed during the season's first race at Bahrain on March 2.