Red Bull catches up every year because Mercedes stops developing very early

Mercedes' fast start

It is a trend that has become increasingly evident in recent years. Red Bull Racing starts the season badly, but manages to narrow the gap to Mercedes during the season. Looking at the past seasons, the gap to the world champions only remained the same in 2018 during the season, but that has a reason.

According to Formula 1 expert Mark Hughes, this was the year in which Mercedes fought with Ferrari for a long time and thus continued to develop the car itself long into the season. The fact that Red Bull catches up every year is not only due to the Austrians, but also to the lack of development during the season at Mercedes.

Mercedes back on top in 2021?

''In 2017, 2019 and 2020, Red Bill started with an inferior car, due to different circumstances, which became better and better throughout the season. In 2017 the wind tunnel didn't work, in 2019 the new aerodynamic regulations affected Red Bull more than Mercedes and this year the rear end of the Red Bull is unstable, but at the Nürburgring Max Verstappen seemed to have solved the problem with a new setup," says Hughes, his article for Motorsport-Magazin.com.

However, according to Hughes it's not entirely up to Red Bull, as the fact that Mercedes kept the lead in 2018 also points to the development stop at Mercedes. ''We may be looking forward to an exciting fight between Red Bull/Max Verstappen and Mercedes for the rest of the season, but if we look at history it could also have a major impact on relations at the beginning of 2021," says Hughes.