Freedom of speech is an abstract concept in the world of Formula 1. There are many who share their opinions on various aspects of the sport. However, in this sea of opinions, some attract more steam than others. This is exactly what happened when an ex-F1 driver-turned-journalist celebrated George Russell out-qualifying Lewis Hamilton. The Hamilton fans were quick to ridicule his comments and convey their scathing criticism. However, this hasn’t stopped the F1 journalist from complimenting Hamilton and Mercedes‘ chief rivals Red Bull in a recent interview.

Red Bull has been incredible so far in the current campaign. The RB19’s speed on DRS has been the talk of the town. Even Hamilton has admitted the insane advantage the RB19 has with the DRS open, which he witnessed in Saudi Arabia when Max Verstappen zoomed past him. This is exactly what former F1 driver Karun Chandhok appreciated to Sky Sports as quoted by F1 Maximaal.

“It’s genius, isn’t it?” said the Indian, Chandhok. He added, “We’ve had DRS in Formula 1 for 12 seasons now and they’ve just thought, Ok, we need to find something that gives us this incredible advantage so it doesn’t matter if we don’t qualify on the front row. The Red Bull loses about 24 or 25 percent of its drag. Most other teams lose about 14 or 15 percent. So they just gave the drivers free performance.” (Translated by Google) 

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However, DRS is not the only advantage the team has. The excellent driver lineup, the pit crew, and the engineering department. It’s a combination of these factors. However, this still doesn’t explain the massive gap the Austrian team has built up over the rest of the field.

The massive gap Red Bull has over Lewis Hamilton among others surprised Christian Horner

Adrian Newey absolutely aced the 2022 regulations. He built a car that was head and shoulders above the competition. However, Red Bull expected greater competition in the current campaign with all teams getting developmental time. That hasn’t been the case so far and, in fact, Red Bull has taken a bigger leap toward the front, increasing the gap to the rest of the competition.

The recent Miami GP served as proof with the Red Bull duo finishing more than 26 seconds ahead of third-placed Fernando Alonso. This aspect shocked the boss, Christian Horner.

“Five races, five wins plus the sprint, and four one-two finishes–we’ve never had a start like this and we’re kind of wondering ‘where are the others?‘ We’ve made a normal step, we think, over the winter, and it’s more where did Ferrari and Mercedes go?” Horner told Sky Sports.

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If anyone had doubts about the one-sided competition, Horner’s comments bring more light to the current scenario of the grid. However, for the sake of the fans, let’s hope this scenario changes soon.