Six points to divide them in the standings, six races still to be played: Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have taken the lead in the standings already five times in this 2021 and the ‘ping-pong’ seems destined to continue. Mercedes is favored in Texas, as will Red Bull in Mexico and Brazil on paper. Then, the great unknowns of Qatar and Jeddah with the grand final in Abu Dhabi, where the Dutchman won a year ago even if it should not be forgotten that the Mercedes raced with weakened engines for reliability reasons. Scenarios that suggest the fact that the roller coaster they will continue, in the hope that the tug-of-war will be decided in Abu Dhabi, which for the occasion will present a polished Yas Marina with two completely new curves to enhance the action on the track and encourage overtaking.
“We needed such a beautiful challenge, otherwise we would have ended the era of these cars only with a domination of Mercedes and Lewis”, said Jean Alesi interviewed by The Gazzetta dello Sport. The former driver of numerous teams, but entered into the hearts of Ferrari supporters for the four years spent in Maranello from 1992 to 1995, is enjoying the duel between Hamilton and Verstappen, whom he only reproaches.useless collision in Monza on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix: “The only thing I didn’t like was Monza, because the fight is fine, but there they exaggerated, both of them, I don’t want to blame one or the other. I hope they continue to fight hard, but correctly ”.
According to Alesi, the risk is to see the World Championship directed by reliability. Both Red Bull and Mercedes have already introduced a fourth additional power unit compared to the three provided for by the regulation. A zero due to a technical knockout is not sustainable for any of the contenders, but the specter of a failure due to exasperated revs in such a close battle cannot be ruled out: “The only thing I hope is that it is not reliability that decides the World Cup, and there is actually a danger. Both have already put on the fourth engine that will have to do six GPs, plus a sprint race in Brazil. AND they will all be contests to death“concluded Alesi.