F1 News
Red Bull in pursuit: 'Upcoming races are Mercedes circuits'
- GPblog.com
After the triple header in France and Austria, things were looking up for Red Bull Racing, with a comfortable lead in both championships. Two races on and suddenly the Milton Keynes-based team are in hot pursuit, as after Hungary Mercedes have regained the lead in both title battles.
Mika Hakkinen also sees that the situation has changed rapidly. "In my experience the World Championship can change in one weekend, so while there is a long way to go in the championship it feels like Hungary changed the 2021 season. The pressure is now on Red Bull Racing to respond, and with the next two Grands Prix on circuits Mercedes should be strong - Spa and Monza - it will not be easy", Hakkinen explains in his column on Unibet.
Roles reversed in the championship
The former F1 world champion sees the roles now reversed, after the Dutchman had a relatively large lead in the championship. Lewis Hamilton is now in the lead, with less than ten points ahead. "A race win in Silverstone and podium finish for Lewis Hamilton in Hungary have put him back in charge of the World Championship, while Max Verstappen crash at the British Grand Prix has now been followed by a very difficult race and just one more championship point".
Hakkinen does not yet dare to predict who will be champion this year, with such small differences. "It is too difficult to predict which team and driver combination will win the World Championship. In two weeks the balance has shifted and I think we are going to see plenty more changing fortunes in the second half of the season", Hakkinen concluded.