After his victory in Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton has three wins out of four races this season. Even though Max Verstappen managed to overtake him at the start, the Brit managed to gain on him and finally cross him by the end of the race.
According to Verstappen, as soon as Hamilton pitted for fresh rubber, he knew that the race was out of his hands.
“In a way, I could see it coming. Already at the end with the soft, he was faster, and then when we were put on the mediums he clearly had a lot more pace,” Max told post-race interviewer, Jenson Button.
This raises the question that could Red Bull do something to avoid the inevitable?
According to Max, they had their hands tied.
“There was not much we could have done. You could see every lap he was getting closer and closer. I was a bit of a sitting duck,” he said.
It is safe to assume that Red Bull is behind Mercedes when it comes to pace. They do hold an edge during qualifying but when it comes to the final race, Mercedes has the upper hand.
There is no point to have a great qualifying session if it cannot be converted into a great race.
Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner, took to the radio to try and console Max. He mentioned that the situation was Hungary 2020 all over again.
Verstappen however thinks otherwise.
“Yeah, it helps a lot when you are just clearly faster. I think it doesn’t even matter if you one or two (pit stops).” he added.
Red Bull needs to up their game if they want to counter Mercedes. As Hamilton increases the points between him and Max, the pressure increases on Verstappen to perform which could increase the chance of making more mistakes.
Hamilton also spoke in the aftermath of the race, where he said he has learned more about Verstappen in this event than all past meetings put together.
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