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Lewis Hamilton in Spielberg
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Mark Thompson / Getty Images
Normally, Mercedes sports director Toto Wolff is one of the black painters, one of those who, at least outwardly, always see the glass as half empty rather than half full. Especially when it came to the prospects of his team, in the times of great dominance of the last seven years he always liked to downplay his own superiority. Now it is suddenly completely different. The favorite role in the world championship title fight has clearly passed to Red Bull and Max Verstappen. The Dutchman won four of the last five races in a row, the one in between in Baku he only lost to a puncture, team-mate Sergio Pérez stepped into the breach.
And in the end the superiority even increased from race to race, now in Spielberg, Verstappen had such a big lead that even an additional safety pit stop, which also earned him the point for the fastest race lap, was not a problem.
But while Red Bull Motorsport Coordinator Helmut Marko emphasized with relish that they hadn't even driven at full capacity for a long time, Wolff tried at least publicly to paint things in pink colors.
Nice words for the world champion
There was talk of good racing pace, it was only at the beginning that they lost too much time behind the surprise man Lando Norris in the McLaren. Then Lewis Hamilton suffered the damage to the underbody, which was not necessarily his fault, it could also have been a normal defect. Nice words for the seven-time world champion, who extended his Mercedes contract by two years on Saturday - but the TV pictures that showed how hard the Brit drove over the curbs allowed other conclusions to be drawn. Actually, therefore, the result with Valtteri Bottas in second place and Hamilton in fourth place is quite good, at least that should be the message.
Wolff's expression indicated that he knows exactly how difficult the situation is and that this is precisely why he is trying to spread optimism.
In principle, he even admits when he says that after all he has to motivate the whole team and create a positive atmosphere.
He does not accept the objection that this does not directly result in a gain in performance.
“It's a big misunderstanding.
If people are motivated and approach their work with a good feeling, then there is progress and success. «You have to analyze some of the things that are not going right, question the why and then draw the right conclusions.
The rear, the engine, the development work
The fact is - the reasons for the Mercedes problems this year are many and varied. It has been clear since the beginning of the season that the rule changes for 2021 in the rear area hit the Mercedes with its flatter angle of attack more than the Red Bull. Even if you quickly got the initially massive problems under control with the black and silver ones. But the Red Bull basically produces more downforce through the chassis, which means that you can drive with a smaller rear wing and thus achieve more top speed on the straights without losing time in the corners.
In the engine sector, Honda has made significant gains this season, especially the second generation of engines in 2021, which has been in use since Baku, has evidently brought another leap forward.
Which is repeatedly commented on by Mercedes with corresponding remarks that can be interpreted as a suspicion of not entirely clean processes.
After all, engine development is actually frozen.
However, there is one exception: certain improvements to increase reliability are allowed.
And when you have achieved more reliability, you can go longer and closer to the engine limits in terms of performance - which would explain the step forward.
There are also differences in philosophy with regard to the current development work.
Mercedes is focusing on 2022, Red Bull with the chance
In view of the massive rule changes from 2022, Mercedes is already concentrating almost completely on the future, the entire development department is already focused on the 2022 car.
In Silverstone in two weeks there will be a last update with parts that were tested in the wind tunnel weeks ago.
Red Bull, on the other hand, sees a great opportunity to win a title again for the first time since 2013, back then with Sebastian Vettel.
And so it always brings new innovations, at least for some time, probably until the summer break.
And then there is the psychology: Having a really equal opponent, having to fight hard - that has not been the norm at Mercedes since the beginning of the hybrid era in 2014. And it shows: under pressure, the dream team, which has been so solid until now, also makes mistakes. Lewis Hamilton has already made one or two slip-ups, pit stops go wrong, the strategy is not always optimal.
At Red Bull, on the other hand - and also at Max Verstappen - the streak of success ensures even more security and self-confidence. Marko announced in the exuberance of the second home win: "Now there is no longer a track on which we have to be afraid." But Wolff sticks to it. “We don't give up - we never will. 32 points behind - that's a retirement, then we're back within striking distance. We have to improve - but we can and will. It is far from over. "
