Mercedes star driver Lewis Hamilton made the most of his race at the Losail Circuit, cruising to a win that has brought him within 8 points of the drivers’ standings championship.
Max Verstappen did his best at damage limitation by getting an additional point for the race’s fastest lap. However, there is a growing belief that Hamilton will eventually get the better of Verstappen, even if things are decided in the final race weekend in Abu Dhabi.
This can further be put into context judging by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s update regarding the engine Hamilton will use in the final two races.
Wolff has confirmed that Hamilton will once again use the engine he did at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Christian Horner is rumoured to be far from happy with this change.
Hamilton now has a vastly superior car: Horner
Horner has recently been rather vocal in his displeasure over the new engine that Hamilton has got as it has made his W-12 a “vastly superior car”.
Hamilton was forced to take a 5-place grid penalty in Interlagos after installing a new Internal Combustion Engine. However, it proved to do little harm to Hamilton’s chances, as he blazed past the field to win the Grand Prix.
While he did shift back to his old engine in the last race, Wolff has confirmed that the team will use its “spicy engine” in Jeddah.
“Saudi should be a good track for us,” he told Sky, as reported by Crash.
“We’ll get our spicy engine out for Saudi Arabia that we didn’t use [here] and hopefully Valtteri is right up there – we need him. If everybody finishes the race it’s [the title race] is going to go to Abu Dhabi,” Wolff added.
Mercedes has been breathtaking in the last two races and if that is anything to go by, many believe that the fate of both the drivers’ and constructors’ championship is already sealed.
Christian Horner vs. Damon Hill #QatarGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/6FOvEfUrDw
— F1 To Rule Them All (@F1RulesMedia) November 19, 2021
This has undoubtedly left Red Bull boss Horner with plenty of headaches. Horner believes that the engine update coupled with Mercedes’ rear wing has given the team an unfair advantage at the end of the campaign.
“If we believe the car is not in compliance, we will protest,” Horner told Autosport.
“The straight-line speeds that we’ve seen in Mexico and in Brazil, I mean, I think everybody could see Brazil was not a normal situation.”
FIA appears to side with Mercedes as far as the ruling on the car is concerned and has already given the team the green light.
This, in effect, means that Verstappen will need to do the heavy lifting if Red Bull is to stand any chance of getting the better of Mercedes in the last two races of the campaign.