Can Red Bull already forget victory in Portugal? "We're gonna see that difference"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Portimao is the second circuit on the F1 calendar that has never been driven before. In Mugello there was already a lot of spectacle and in Portugal that spectacle is expected again. Red Bull Racing seems to be getting closer to Mercedes, although the gap is still quite large. In Portimao the team of Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon will hope for a less big difference with Mercedes.
According to Christijan Albers, a former Dutch F1 driver, there must be a difference between Mercedes and Red Bull in Portugal. "This week we will see the difference between Verstappen and Albon and Red Bull and Mercedes as well because Portimao is a technical circuit. In addition, on the unknown circuits, the natural talents will emerge in the coming period. Working talents need more time to find speed during a weekend", Albers explains in his column at De Telegraaf.
Mercedes increases lead
Albers recognises that the gap between Mercedes and Red Bull is still enormous. "I don't think Red Bull has suddenly come much closer to Mercedes. That looked like the Nürburgring for a while, but that was also because Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas could not drive enough to find the perfect set-up because of the cancelled Friday."
Halfway through the season Mercedes already focused on 2021 and stopped developing the 2020 car. According to Albers, this is a very clever move by the German team. "That's not surprising, given their huge lead at the start of the season. Then you can focus on 2021. Red Bull can never make up for such a gap in a year's time," says Albers.