“It takes a day of training and a night at the factory for Red Bull to find a solution”– Reason why Mercedes is slowly edging past Red Bull ahead of remaining 6 races

Red Bull was dominating over Mercedes for the first half of the season, but Mercedes is managing to overpower them over the past few races.

Mercedes and Red Bull are in a nail-biting contest for the 2021 championship title. And with the remaining six races of the season, the solution is far from decided.

However, Mercedes recent might in Turkey was also observable. Hence Red Bull got worried about the recently gained speed by Mercedes and even asked for an engine investigation.

According to Michael Schmidt, writing in Auto Motor und Sport, Red Bull is lagging engineering wise against Mercedes. Therefore, the Silver Arrows are managing to edge past them in the close battles.

Schmidt claims that the Milton-Keynes-based outfit is struggling to adjust certain downforce levels, making their car lose balance, as apparent in Turkey.

“That usually happens when one of the two large rear wings is on the car,” writes Schmidt. “With an unexpected problem like the surprisingly good grip in Turkey, Red Bull is completely in the woods,” he continues.

“It takes a day of training and a night at the factory in Milton Keynes to find a solution, while Mercedes continues to refine their package in the meantime. The loss of a whole day is practically impossible to make up for in this close race.”

Also read: Max Verstappen claims it was easier for Nico Rosberg to beat Lewis Hamilton than for Red Bull ace in 2021

The USGP might haunt Red Bull

If the mentioned scenario holds any truth, then Red Bull might get bullied by Mercedes at Circuit of the Americas, which will organize the next Grand Prix. As in the recent past, the circuit has favoured Mercedes, and present conditions, indicate the same.

The pattern, in general, has been circuits that give more laptime reward for pure downforce have favoured Red Bull’s high-rake concept. Those placing extra importance on low drag have favoured the Mercedes.

— deni (@fiagirly) October 15, 2021

And it might badly affect Red Bull’s chances in the constructors’ standings. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen may lose his marginal lead of six points against Lewis Hamilton.

But after the USGP, F1 will head for Mexico and Brazil, where Red Bull has been dominant in the recent past and might provide relief to the wounds America might be getting ready to give.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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