The rear-gunner role is one he played perfectly on Sunday… Mercedes was powerless to respond, committing to keeping its cars out and hoping Verstappen couldn’t make up the time.īut even if Mercedes had blinked first and brought Hamilton in, Perez would still have been a real problem. It then put Red Bull in control of the race, giving it the chance to roll the dice on a second pit stop that sent Verstappen on his way to victory. It meant Verstappen’s one-lap advantage over Hamilton paid off handsomely, allowing him to make up a three-second gap - which Mercedes can only account 2.5s of right now - and seize the lead. PLUS: How Red Bull took French GP "payback" on a day of Mercedes mistakes The signs that it was powerful were there as early as lap 15, when first-man-in Charles Leclerc vaulted ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, with the pair then jumping Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr one lap later. The key strategy error from Mercedes came when it underestimated the power of the undercut. Baku winner Sergio Perez drove a superb race to be a thorn in the side of the Mercedes pit wall, covering off a possible two-stop strategy and even having the pace at the end to grab third from Bottas. Mercedes has enjoyed the benefit of racing Red Bull two-on-one quite a bit in recent years, such have been the struggles of the driver in the second cockpit.īut in France, Red Bull levelled the playing field. Mercedes was powerless to stop Red Bull after the undercut error Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images 2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12 But Sunday proved that Verstappen finally has the car capable of taking him to a world championship. It was a weekend that proved Red Bull does have the package to fight Mercedes, but also one where Verstappen showed he can take Hamilton on, literally playing the seven-time world champion at his own game from Hungary 2019 and Spain earlier this year. At no point did he dither, calmly seeing off Valtteri Bottas for second before taking Hamilton two laps from home to clinch the race win. He fought back from his Turn 2 mistake on the opening lap, took advantage of the undercut, and then executed Red Bull’s “ballsy” strategy call. Yet Verstappen handled everything thrown at him, showing brilliant maturity. But with Mercedes expected to return to its usual strength at a more traditional track, this was always going to be a weekend that put Red Bull to a truer test.
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