Red Bull Racing’s French Grand Prix success threw a fad we had actually seen in Formula 1 up until that factor: a clear Mercedes side on non-street circuits.
While Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took lead for the opening race of the 2021 Solution 1 period in Bahrain, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton were able to assume track placement and also hold top place in the race.
The period’s 2nd race in Imola was somewhat of an abnormality, Racing as it was held in damp conditions. Verstappen came out on top.
After that in races 3 and also 4 in Portimao as well as Barcelona, Mercedes revealed their expertise in medium-speed corners, with Hamilton triumphing in both events.
In races five as well as six, Red Bull had an essential pace advantage around the tight and also twisty roads of Monaco and also Baku, however the feeling by those aware was that Mercedes would be the group to beat in France.
However, Verstappen was on unstoppable form throughout the weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard, and also he took the pole position by practically 2 and also a half tenths of a 2nd over the seven-time globe champion. After that come the race, the Milton Keynes-based team flipped the tables on Mercedes. They refined the very same two-stop approach that Mercedes used on them in Barcelona to take the win.
In the previous two models of the French Grand Prix, Hamilton won from pole position and also was undisputed. A dominant triumph over Verstappen in 2018 was followed by a Mercedes 1-2 in 2019, with Hamilton leading every lap in the latter.
Maybe argued that previous races do not matter, as Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has mentioned.
In an interview with Network 4, Wolff claimed: “I do not believe it is that significant. The last time we competed right here was 2019. The two automobiles are totally various. They weren’t that competitive at that time as well as they are today.”.
Maybe. Racing But thinking about the pace that Red Bull have revealed at various other medium-speed training courses, this must be a worry for the Silver Arrows.
Analysis by RaceFans shows that Mercedes, a minimum of in Hamilton’s hands, were quicker by a few tenths of a second per lap over the program of the Spanish Grand Prix.
