Mercedes under pressure from Verstappen: 'They keep making mistakes'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Ralf Schumacher argues that the mistakes Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes continue to make means Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen are still in the title race. With seven races still to go, all is therefore still open.
Mercedes under pressure
Mercedes were clearly the favourites in Russia but actually threw the entire weekend away with qualifying. Hamilton drove into the wall on entering the pit lane, also holding up his teammate. This cost the team so much time that they couldn't properly warm up their tyres, and Lewis found himself stuck in traffic on Sunday.
''They were superior, but not like before. You notice Mercedes making mistakes here and there. Whether it is strategic or Hamilton himself, who does not recognise that he can change tyres in Sochi. The mistakes ensure that the world championship remains exciting. There are now some Red Bull circuits coming up, so you also heard that Mercedes were not happy that Verstappen had come second,'' says Schumacher in his column for Sky Germany.
Advantage for Verstappen
Although Mercedes could be caught out by some mistakes, Red Bull were also lucky according to Ralf, ''That was luck for Red Bull. However, if you are honest they have had a lot of bad luck this year as well. If they didn't have all that bad luck, they would be well ahead in the standings now. That's why they did deserve this.''
''In two weeks we are going to Turkey. That has been a circuit so far where Mercedes have a slight advantage, but Red Bull have come closer to everything this year. It will be an exciting fight and with his new engine Verstappen might even have an advantage,'' concludes the former F1 driver.