“The next track arguably should favour Mercedes”– Red Bull declare Mercedes favourites for Saudi Arabian Grand Prix amidst intense title fight

With the 2021 title fight approaching its twilight with the last two races, Red Bull consider Mercedes the favourites to win in Jeddah.

Formula 1’s entire entourage will travel to Saudi Arabia next week. The Jeddah street circuit will mark its debut, which is being termed as the fastest street circuit in the calendar.

Moreover, Jeddah also proves to be the last stop before the finale of the championship fight in Abu Dhabi. And Red Bull suggests that the results in Saudi Arabia will make the title fight a stiff competition before the penultimate race, as the track will probably favour Mercedes.

“The next track arguably should favour Mercedes,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner as per Motorsportweek. “Abu Dhabi, with the modifications made there, who knows? It’s been incredibly tight, so we go into these last races eight points in the lead in the drivers’ championship.”

“We’ve reduced the championship lead in the Constructors’ to five points, so both are fully in play. That’s fantastic, because we’re not at the climax of this championship.”

Whilst Horner declared Mercedes the favourite to win the race, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko believes Max Verstappen has the upper hand at Jeddah. He claimed it while citing the Dutchman’s recent records in all street circuits.

Also read: Red Bull boss thinks that the difference between them and Mercedes in Qatar came down to one particular corner

Red Bull and Mercedes straight-line speed

Mercedes stunned Red bull with its incredible straight-line speed in Brazi. But the positive takeaway for Horner from Qatar was the dwindled pace of Mercedes in the same sector, and it’s encouraging.

Looking at the remaining tracks, Hamilton will win with a thin margin.
RB did a great job. But they just don’t have the straight line pace of the Mercedes. And not too many corners left for RB to catch up.
.#Formula1

— Krishnendu KES (@Krishnendukes) November 25, 2021

“I think what we’ve seen in recent races has been abnormal straight-line speed,” said Horner of Mercedes’ package. The fact that Toto [Wolff] has felt the need to point out that we’ve gained straight-line speed when nothing’s changed.”

“I think it is encouraging that for the first race since prior to Silverstone, we’ve been able to match them in straight-line speed and it’s been exponential at recent races.”

Also read: Red Bull boss Christian Horner admits that the team is still working on their ‘flappy rear wing’ issue

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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