Why Mercedes were suddenly much quicker than Red Bull Racing at Portimao

Mercedes is lucky

In the first two races, Mercedes may have scored the most points, but it was mainly the RB16B owned by Max Verstappen that was pointed out as the best car on the grid. It was therefore remarkable that Mercedes had the best car in Portugal. In qualifying, Verstappen might have been able to take pole, but in the race, Hamilton was clearly better.

According to Auto, Motor und Sport this is due to the circumstances at this circuit. According to the German media, Mercedes has problems with their rear tyres, which overheat quickly. The tyres have to stay in the right window to get the maximum performance out of them. This is why Red Bull was faster in Bahrain.

Problems in Spain

Where Mercedes was able to win in Bahrain through a clever strategy, Mercedes was simply faster now, and that was mainly due to the low temperatures. ''The problems with the rear tyres we had much better under control here. The cold temperatures helped us in Imola, and in Portimao the slippery tarmac kept us going'', Mercedes engineers told the German media.

In Barcelona and Monaco, a team struggling with its rear tyres will be in much more pain than in Portimao. According to AMuS, this will cause problems for Mercedes, but also for Alpine who have the same problems as Mercedes, which is why they came out on top in Portimao.