Lewis is relishing new challenge of not being fastest
FOR the first time in eight years, Mercedes are unfancied for the F1 world championship. Red Bull Racing have the faster car.
Otherworldly driving from Lewis Hamilton – plus an opaque ruling on track limits – meant he finished ahead of Max Verstappen in Bahrain so Red Bull need to throw down the gauntlet in Imola this season.
Verstappen knows the potential is there. ‘I think, with having a car that can fight for the title, everything becomes a lot easier,’ said the Dutchman. ‘ You don’t need to win every battle or race.’
The pressure is on Mercedes to improve their car’s performance. ‘I’m pretty sure we’ve got to do better,’ said Sir Lewis (pictured). ‘We’ve got to be smarter, and how we navigate through our weekends with the fact we don’t have the fastest car at the moment.
‘But that’s all good for me. I don’t mind having to pull out extra to make the difference.’
While Hamilton can be expected to pull out all the stops, it’s more complicated for his team.
Major aerodynamic changes are being introduced next year and, ideally, Mercedes would switch their main R&D focus to this in the next month or two. Team principal Toto Wolff said: ‘It’s clear that you can’t afford to not perform in 2021. But equally, the 2022 regulations are going to be in place for quite some years.
‘Once you start with a deficit, it’s very difficult to catch up.’
Wolff conceded Red Bull hold the edge right now. ‘It does feel different,’ he added.
‘The regulation changes that were introduced last year, we just had probably more deficit to compensate. When we put the cars on the road, that was pretty clear.
‘But it is what it is, and now we have got to do the job to the best of our abilities.’ Eyes will be on Verstappen’s new team-mate Sergio Perez after his tricky Red Bull debut last time out.
His fifth place was a good save, though, compared with Sebastian Vettel’s dire first race for Aston Martin. It made some question whether the four-time world champion will see out the season.
But things change very fast in F1, and if Seb can score a strong result in Ferrari’s backyard it will be hailed as a comeback.
Aston, like Mercedes, seem to be suffering from this year’s rule changes regarding the car’s floor. Both cars are ‘low-rake’, compared with the Red Bull RB16B’s chassis which is acutely ‘high-rake’.
Sky commentator Martin Brundle is certain the aero problems are not insurmountable.
He said: ‘I wouldn’t underestimate Mercedes. Everybody is talking about rake and how it has damaged Mercedes and therefore Aston Martin.
‘But unless I’m mistaken, a Mercedes won the race in Bahrain with Red Bull having dominated the last race [in Abu Dhabi] last year. I think it will be close, [but] they will sort the Mercedes out.’
Hamilton won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix last year, but his team-mate Valtteri Bottas took pole position.
Verstappen was third on the grid but spun off in the race. The only other current driver to have won at the hallowed Imola track is Fernando Alonso, who will be seeking his first points for Alpine. We can also expect the McLarens and Alpha-Tauris to perform well on a tight and twisty circuit.
Due to the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral tomorrow, there have been some time changes. Qualification is at 1pm tomorrow, while the race is at 2pm on Sunday.