At the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton triumphed over Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. Admittedly, Verstappen led the race for a fairly long time, until Hamilton made his move for the lead.
In light of this, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff commiserated with Red Bull counterpart, Christian Horner. He said, “It’s so difficult I guess at the front for Red Bull to take the right decisions because you give up position you could have lost the race.
“Second is just easier when you have the gap to make that call.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
At the race start, Verstappen got a lightning-quick start and jumped Hamilton. From there, he managed to hold on to the lead for a very long time.
Unfortunately, an uncharacteristically sluggish pit stop from Red Bull handed the advantage back to Hamilton. While Verstappen was able to snatch the lead back in the later round of pit stops, Hamilton hunted the Dutchman down.
What can Red Bull do now to take the fight back to Mercedes?
For the moment, all that the Austrian outfit can do is ruminate on what could have been. On the bright side, they know that in two weeks’ time, the F1 circus moves to Monaco.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
At the iconic street circuit, everyone knows that qualifying will be the highest priority. Considering that it is extremely difficult to overtake, Red Bull need to pull their socks up.
Max Verstappen has proven on many occasions this season, that the Red Bull has excellent one-lap pace. So it is not out of the realm of possibility to entertain the idea of a Red Bull win.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
However, the Mercedes team will not be discounted from the fight as they are still the team to beat. Aside from these two usual suspects, the likes of Ferrari and McLaren are slowly emerging as viable threats. Although they are not at the level of Mercedes or Red Bull, the two teams are still a step above the other teams.