Niki Lauda admits Ferrari 'clearly ahead' of Mercedes

Mercedes' non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has called on his side to make "two steps forward" if they want to catch up with Ferrari in the upcoming Barcelona Grand Prix.

Mercedes utterly dominated Formula One between 2014 and 2016, but in 2017 season so far Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has pulled out lead in the drivers' championship.

Vettel is standing at the top of the standings with 86 points ahead of Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton (73 points) and third-placed Valterri Bottas (63 points).

Admitting that Ferrari is 'clearly ahead' of Mercedes this season, Lauda said that it is high time for his team to realize what is not working and take steps accordingly in the upcoming races.

"Ferrari is clearly ahead. We need to analyse what exactly is not working and take the right steps for Barcelona. Because all the teams will bring updates, Ferrari will make a step forward, we have to make two and Red Bull needs to make three,"Sport24 quoted Lauda as saying.

There have been speculations that the biggest problem with Mercedes is its inconsistency with the tyres, but Lauda ruled out the same.

"We have too much weight in the car, we need to improve the aerodynamics, and above all we need to understand why the new Pirelli tyres do not work as they do on the Ferrari," the Mercedes chairman said.