Red Bull has overtaken Ferrari as the new main challenger for Mercedes in F1. That is the view of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, as the great Maranello marque 
continued to falter at Silverstone. The new Achilles Heel is the gearbox, with Sebastian Vettel not only outqualified by Red Bull in Britain but demoted on the grid by yet another gearbox problem. Ecclestone told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that he senses a trend in the recent effort of Mercedes’ main rivals to catch up. “I see Red Bull as the major challenger now,” he said. “I think they will be the biggest challenger in 2017, although for formula one it would be better if it was Ferrari.”
Asked what he thinks Ferrari is doing wrong, Ecclestone answered: “Sergio Marchionne is doing a super job. But he has too many other things he does as well. If you want to bring Ferrari back to the top, it’s a 7 day a week, 24 hour a day job. Nothing against Maurizio Arrivabene, but he is a different character to Marchionne.”
