Hamilton had warned that unless his team provided more upgrades to the car, more losses would follow inevitably.
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After what has been a rough few months for Mercedes, tensions seem to be on the rise between the company and their ace driver Lewis Hamilton. The German company said that it would not accommodate Hamilton’s demands for a car upgrade after the Brit was soundly beaten by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton had warned that unless his team provided more upgrades to the car, more losses would follow inevitably, which would eventually crush his hopes of winning a record eighth Formula 1 (F1) championship title. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff said that they would stick to their strategy of not making any changes to this year’s car, and also remained optimistic that the fight for the F1 crown was far from over.
Taking advantage of the situation, Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner said he felt that now was the time to “turn the screw” on Mercedes. Red Bull has done quite a number on Mercedes in the last few races. They managed to grab pole position in the last four races, a feat they had not achieved since 2013. Max Verstappen finished first on three occasions while Sergio Perez got pole once. They are now well and truly in the deriver’s seat to win both the driver’s championship and the constructor’s championship.
After the disappointing losses, Hamilton was left understandably frustrated. He said that without upgrades to this year’s car, there was no way the sliver arrows could match the sheer pace of the Red Bulls. Mercedes, on the other hand, are on a completely different wavelength. They are focussing on next year’s car at a time where a large chunk of the F1 championship is still left.
“We have new regulations not only for next year but for years to come. You’ve got to choose the right balance. It would make no sense to put a week or two, a month back on the current car because the gains wouldn’t be anywhere near the gains we are making on the 2022 car,” Wolff said.
He also said that aerodynamic upgrades would not close the gap that he believes was imposed by the regulation changes introduced for the season. They were designed to slow the cars but have hit Mercedes particularly hard and Hamilton has complained of there being a deliberate attempt to hold back his team.
“We know that Toto likes to throw the light somewhere else,” Red Bull chief Horner said. “So I can’t believe that they’ll go through the rest of this year without putting a single component on the car. Max is driving with great maturity and consistency and we’ve just got to keep turning the screw,” he added.
The verbal sparring between the two companies has characterized their rivalry in the 2021 F1 season so far. Hamilton is yet to sign a new contract with Mercedes for next season but Wolff is confident that the Brit was on board.
“The driver will always fight with everything he has,” said Wolff. “We’ve had the chat (on car development) before and as a matter of fact, it’s a very rational decision. The upgrades you bring wouldn’t close the aerodynamic deficit of the magnitude that these new aero regulations cost us. Fact,” he added.
“They (Red Bull) will stop aero development at a certain stage. So the fight is still full on. That wasn’t our best circuit in the past, and it wasn’t on Sunday but doesn’t mean that we have no weapons in our armoury left,” Wolff concluded.
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