Prost expects the end of Mercedes’ domination in 2015

The four-time French world champion, Alain Prost, believes that Mercedes’ dominance could quickly dwindle at the start of the next Formula 1 season.

The advantage gained over the Renault engine would be explained by him as a result of Mercedes’ much earlier focus compared to the French engine manufacturer, which fought for the championship title over the past four years: « It was almost inevitable. I’m not talking about the performance gap, but the fact that Mercedes has the advantage because they started their project over three years ago. Meanwhile, Renault was fighting for the world championship title for four consecutive years. »

Alain Prost clarifies his thoughts for our colleagues at Autosport: « Maybe it is more difficult to change your working methods, the way you invest and manage things, especially when there is a complete change in the regulations, a new way of building the engine, with a new approach. It is very difficult to handle both things at the same time. »

However, the Frenchman believes that Mercedes’ rivals will be able to catch up very quickly and even become real challengers at the start of the 2015 season: When there is this kind of domination, it’s quite difficult to beat. But it’s not impossible. The modifications on the chassis are pretty limited, but I think that all together, team and engine, Mercedes’ rivals can do a better job. Mercedes has built the chassis and the engine, and this year, it has been a real advantage. If you look at the way the car works, it doesn’t just come from the engine.

Prost is not against the thawing of engines, which would allow manufacturers to develop their power units more rapidly and, therefore, enable Mercedes’ rivals to catch up. In his view, this would be beneficial for the competition: « We must wait to know what will be done at the regulatory level concerning engine development. This is not easy. But it will be very important. If you have frozen engines today, you destroy everything. But if you give back a lot more freedom, it will drive up costs. So a compromise needs to be found, it’s very important to have one. »

Currently, the hypothesis of abandoning the engine freeze during the season seems very unlikely. Indeed, such a regulatory change, even if voted by the Strategy Group, must be decided unanimously in the F1 Commission, where all teams are represented, including those who will have a Mercedes engine in 2015, namely Mercedes AMG, Williams Martini, Sahara Force India, and Lotus F1.