The Turkish Grand Prix marked yet another double overtaking this year in the drivers’ standings. Max Verstappen is six points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. In the constructors’ championship, on the other hand, Mercedes has increased the gap over their Austrian rivals by another three points. Now the gap in the standings between the two teams is 36 points. Apart from the Belgian GP, from Silverstone onwards Mercedes has always obtained more points than Red Bull, in every GP played. A further indication of the level of forces on the field at the moment was provided by the race held by Valtteri Bottas at Istanbul Park.
The Finn, who started from pole, was hardly ever threatened by Verstappen, who had to be content with running for second place. The development of the race has led many to think that the reigning world champion team is currently a step above the team led by Christian Horner. This banquet is also the two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen, which in its usual editorial published on the site Unibet, has ‘warned’ Red Bull of the danger it is facing. “What has been clear since that weekend is that the Mercedes car has outperformed that of Red Bull in terms of performance. – commented Hakkinen – Lewis and Valtteri were the fastest in qualifying and Max admitted Red Bull have work to do if they want to win this championship.“.
However, the former McLaren driver also highlighted a particularly positive aspect that emerged during the Turkish weekend for the Milton Keynes team. “A strong point for Red Bull on Sunday was the performance of Sergio [Perez]. He had a good race, protected Max and finished third. His battle with Lewis was splendid – concluded Hakkinen – he showed great confidence and maturity on the part of a rider who we know is very good at managing tires. Sergio has had some difficult races recently, so this was a great performance and a good time for the team. “.