After a successful run by Mercedes in Spain last weekend, where they performed better with new upgrades, pressure is building on the rival team, especially the Red Bull boss Christian Horner. Evidently, Teams Red Bull & Mercedes go way back. It all started with the Silver Arrows breaking the Bull’s streak in 2014. And the cycle continues as Red Bull is again on their way to establishing a long-time hegemony on the grid. All that is mainly because of the unbelievably fast RB19 car. No other team’s cars can even come close to catching the Red Bull car.
However, Mercedes, after struggling for more than a year to build a fast and smooth car, have managed to get their first double podium finish in the last Grand Prix in Barcelona, Spain. Albeit, Lewis Hamilton won his second podium finish this year in Spain. It was the 193rd podium finish of his career and the second podium for him and his team after Melbourne, Australia. But the 25-year-old George Russell earned his first podium finish in Spain last weekend. However, this sudden rise of the rivals to the podium might be a little concerning for Red Bull principal Christian Horner.
Christian Horner Shows A Little Concern Over The Rival’s New Upgrades
After the Spanish Grand Prix, Christian Horner acknowledged that Mercedes had taken significant steps with their car. He also expects the rival team to put more pressure on them in the following races. Albeit, Red Bull won again in Spain, and Max Verstappen won his 5th race this year already. Moreover, Red Bull has won all the races so far. But the rise of the rivals can still bug the Austrian team a bit. Horner mentioned that Mercedes was still 24 seconds behind them, but “They are a quality team and looked strong last weekend. Hence, we can expect them to try and put pressure on us in the second half of the year.”
Adding to that, the Red Bull boss asserted that it is difficult to predict which team will perform better on which track. Apparently, McLaren driver Lando Norris had a pretty good qualifying session in Spain, and Ferrari was not as fast as expected. However, Red Bull holds a strong lead over the rest, with a gap of 135 points between them and Mercedes in second place. On the other hand, Max Verstappen has a fine lead of 53 points over his teammate Sergio Perez in second place.
Mercedes And Red Bull – Epic Rivalry
Formula One team was the dominant team from 2010 to 2013, with Sebastian Vettel on the steering wheel. The German racer won back-to-back driver’s world championships until the McLaren racer, who joined them in 2013, ended the hegemony of Sebastian Vettel. Moreover, from 2014 to 2021, Mercedes won eight constructor titles and seven driver’s world championships.
Except in 2016, Lewis Hamilton won all the world championships from 2014 to 2020. The Briton already had won a title in 2008 with McLaren. Hence, his tally equaled the F1 great Michael Schumacher in 2020. Later in 2021, Lewis Hamilton was on his way to winning the coveted eighth title when Red Bull’s new sensation, Max Verstappen, denied Hamilton his eighth title. Hence, this time a Red Bull driver broke the hegemony of a Mercedes driver.