James Allison: Ferrari can beat Mercedes

Baku. 12 December. REPORT.AZ/ Ferrari have a "realistic" chance of mounting a serious title challenge to Mercedes in 2016, according to technical director James Allison.

Sebastian Vettel finished third in this year's championship, winning three races to champion Lewis Hamilton's 10.

Allison said: "If we do everything we intend, we have a realistic chance next year will be a classic year for F1 - and for Ferrari I hope even stronger.

"But saying it is easy and doing it is a lot, lot harder", Report informs the technical director told BBC.

Allison, 47, is the man charged with turning around Ferrari's fortunes after a dip in form in recent years and a title drought dating back to 2007.

He has led a recovery this year after Ferrari had in 2014 its worst season in two decades, failing to win and taking only two podiums.

This year, Vettel, who replaced Fernando Alonso after the former Ferrari team leader moved to McLaren believing they would give him a better chance of winning a third world title, has scored 13 podiums, including his victories in Malaysia, Hungary and Singapore.