It seems that Max Verstappen is once again the biggest competitor of Mercedes in Mugello. From Friday the Dutchman was close behind the German team on both one lap pace and the longruns.
Verstappen to challenge Mercedes?
According to Auto, Motor und Sport the longruns of Verstappen were very strong. The Dutchman was a few thousandths behind Valtteri Bottas. So it seems that Verstappen can throw a spanner in the works on Sunday.
The analysis of the Italian branch of Motorsport.com confirms this. Mercedes would drive with much more downforce than Red Bull Racing does. Verstappen is at the start and finish five miles per hour faster than Bottas and even more than six miles hour faster than Hamilton.
Tyre wear
At Mugello, just like at Silverstone, Mercedes seem to have a lot of problems with tyre wear, something the RB16 suffers a lot less from. Lewis Hamilton mentioned this earlier this weekend, according to him the team should prevent the car from sliding as much as possible to limit the overheating of the tyres.