"We have to think of something because the Mercedes are very quick on the straights. In Turkey they were almost 15 km/h quicker, like when driving with the DRS open." Helmut Marko and Christian Horner have started an offensive to try to get the FIA to comprehensively review the latest evolution of the 2021 Mercedes engine.
Going in parts, Red Bull introduced an evolution at Spa with which they were on par with Mercedes (at Silverstone), and with which they seemed to be able to fight for the championship until the end, but those from Brixworth reacted at Monza. There, they introduced a new optimized internal combustion unit (ICE), citing a failure in some parts and the consequent reliability problems.
But it happened that in Russia, on the same Friday, they realized that there were still reliability problems (perhaps some new ones that arose in the revamped part) so they removed Bottas' engine again (penalizing the bottom), with a new specification that Hamilton already received in Turkey.
And in Red Bull they are stunned that, with that engine, the Finn dominated Verstappen at will throughout the race, where DRS was not allowed due to the rain, but which produced incredible top speed figures for the W12, despite having some even larger rear wings than the Max. Thus, they have asked the federation several questions in the hope that they will send a wake-up call to their rivals.
"It's been that way since Silverstone and the gap is only getting bigger," says Horner, referring to the third engine of the year for Mercedes, which introduced a new intercooler (turbo cooler) that supposedly cooled the air back into the car. to the combustion chamber at a level that allowed them to gain effective power.
Since the return of the summer break, Mercedes leads Red Bull by 19 points, a period of racing in which both teams have suffered a pointsless finish and retirement. "That engine superiority, we don't know where it's coming from and what we can do about it. We need to optimize our chassis even more to be able to balance it again," he says of the six races remaining to go.
Team principal Christian Horner confirmed that Red Bull recently asked the FIA to look into the pace, which is believed to have been generated through an intercooler trick, but they believe there are other elements of concern. "We have raised some questions, as every team does. And it hasn't just been Red Bull, by the way, there were other manufacturers who have also raised questions and continue to do so. It is something that I asked the FIA to inspect the engines, because when you have a straight line speed that is higher than with the DRS open, it's quite impressive", commented the Briton to Albert Fábrega after the race on DAZN F1.
Horner believes the competitive landscape between the two title rivals has changed in recent weeks. "Their straight line speed has taken a significant step up recently, and I think that while we could match them before with smaller wings, now we can't come close," said Horner in a post-race press conference. "Lewis, in particular in Turkey, had a significant advantage on the straight with a bigger rear wing on his car. On Saturday in Qualifying, they were surprised that Lewis set the fastest time on his first attempt, when he had fuel for an extra lap in which he fell very close to the best time again.
"We have to maximize our package as best we can. And, as I say, it's surprising that they've taken the step they've taken with the power unit," he insists, as real performance gains aren't allowed with new parts, unless they are changed for reasons of reliability, which is precisely.
Mercedes' lead in Turkey bodes well for its prospects at the next race, the United States Grand Prix. "We know that the upcoming race in Austin has been a stronghold of Hamilton for quite a few years. But then Mexico and Brazil, hopefully the higher altitude races tended to be quite strong for us in the past. So I'm really not sure what It's going to be fascinating, but we know we're going to have to be at the peak of our potential", predicts the sporting director.
"We managed to extract the most we could here [in Turkey], with great execution in the pit stops and a good strategy. That was positive. But it has certainly been a strong place for Mercedes, in outright pace." The fact that Bottas took the first victory of the year in an uncontested way also fuels his worst fears, despite the fact that Verstappen leads the championship by 6 points again.
