"It takes Red Bull a whole day to sort that out, while Mercedes finetunes the car"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Red Bull Racing were dominant in the first half of the Formula 1 season, but around the summer break the roles seem to have reversed. Mercedes have made clear progress, while Red Bull have been struggling in Turkey.
In Zandvoort Max Verstappen was supreme, but after the Dutch Grand Prix he hasn't won since. However, the turnaround at Mercedes seems to have taken place before that weekend. Verstappen may have won at Spa-Francorchamps due to his pole position, but no race was run in Belgium.
According to Auto, Motor und Sport Mercedes have unscrewed their engines and as a result both the factory team and the customer teams are running into wear and tear problems. Because the German racing team made its last major update at Silverstone that would be a logical explanation.
Red Bull struggles with unexpected problems
According to the website the problems Red Bull are having lately are because the car is more difficult to adjust. At certain downforce levels, the team is running into balance problems, as was evident in Turkey. "That usually happens when one of the two large rear wings is on the car," read the statement from Formula One journalist Michael Schmidt.
"With an unexpected problem like the surprisingly good grip in Turkey, Red Bull is completely in the woods," he continued. "It takes a day of training and a night at the factory in Milton Keynes to find a solution, while Mercedes continues to refine their package in the meantime. The loss of a whole day is practically impossible to make up for in this close race. "