Following Christian Horner’s Comments, Red Bull Mechanic Opens Up on How Lewis Hamilton Mentally Affected Everyone Across the Team

The 2021 F1 season gave fans one of the most memorable championship battles in the sport’s modern era. As fans of the sport, we all enjoyed the Red Bull VS Mercedes war that went down to the wire. However, it wasn’t as enjoyable for the people involved. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner recently revealed he feels like he is still recovering from the ’21 season, and not even an ounce of him wishes a repeat of the immensely close title fight. However, according to Red Bull Tech Engineer Calum Nicholas, it wasn’t just the Red Bull team boss who felt the fear of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes constantly hunting and haunting them for the title. Talking to the Track Limits podcast, Nicholas revealed the atmosphere inside the Red Bull camp in 2021.

Two years ago, we saw what was arguably the greatest championship battle the F1 has ever seen. It took the last lap of the season’s final race for us to get our world champ of the year, but not without controversy. It wasn’t a rivalry for the weak-hearted, especially if you were one of the people involved.

Calum Nicholas describes what it was like inside the Red Bull camp in 2021

With Mercedes and Red Bull at each other’s throats all season, the crew of both teams had a tough time keeping up with the physical and mental challenges that kept coming their way. Considered the underdogs that year, it was especially hard for the Milton Keynes outfit. It got to an extent where Nicholas felt the most stressed he had ever been.

“2021 was probably the hardest season that I’ve had in my career. Not just the physical workload, it was so busy, but also mentally. Especially towards that back end of the year. It was so tight, it was so tense. I sort of described it before, I felt like, you almost felt like you were being hunted like each week. You’re like losing ground and you’re just trying to get the best out of everything, you could.”

Red Bull has come a long way since the ’21 season. They picked up the driver’s as well as the constructor’s championship in the following season and have made considerable strides this season as they aim to create a one-of-a-kind record.

Red Bull is now the top dog in F1

Red Bull’s drivers took the 1st and the 3rd spot in the driver’s championships last season, with Max Verstappen winning his second consecutive title. The team has since improved their car with each race and find themselves unmatched in performance this season.

The 2023 season has seen total domination by Red Bull so far. Of the 12 races this season, they have won all 12, with the current world champ winning 10. As the restart of the season nears shore, it is expected that Red Bull will continue with their dominion over their competition. With teams bringing in new upgrades, it is still a common belief that they will be no match for the RB19 car.

Should they reciprocate their results from the first half of the season, the team from Milton Keynes would become the first team to ever win all the Grands Prix in a season.