Conclusions after the Grand Prix: 'Verstappen can win races on his own in 2020'

The second Silverstone Grand Prix has a surprising winner: Max Verstappen. Where everyone already assumed that the Mercedes drivers would win every race in the 2020 Formula 1 season, it appears that Verstappen can win on his own. These are the five conclusions after the fifth Grand Prix of this Formula 1 season.

Mercedes are really not good at warm weather

Can they withstand heat or not? The answer is a resounding "no." Helmut Marko reported earlier that this problem had been solved at the competitor and Mercedes itself also had the hope that this could help during this season. However, this appears not to be the case.

On Sunday it became clear that Mercedes' relapse on Fridays that it was warm on previous weekends was no coincidence. On Sunday at Silverstone, Mercedes fell back a lot and Verstappen was suddenly faster on every tyre. Many will therefore hope for warm weather from now on, because then Mercedes can be beaten.

Vettel's confidence has dropped below freezing

Sebastian Vettel is no longer feeling good about himself is clear now. The German is (expected) making a switch to Racing Point, but sees his value diminishing every week. Once again we saw Vettel go into a spin on Sunday without any contact with another driver. The list of incidents just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

A little later it became clear in the race that the German rarely looks in the mirror. Instead of putting on the sackcloth himself, he then got into traffic and blamed his team for it. Mattia Binotto said after the race that everything went wrong with Vettel's spin. The question is how long this collaboration will still be meaningful?

Norris takes charge of McLaren

Where Carlos Sainz was the celebrated man at McLaren in 2019 and thus deserved a switch to Ferrari, the Italian team now seems to have bought a cat in the bag. No, that is of course an exaggeration, but it is remarkable that the tide within McLaren has turned in favour of Lando Norris.

The Brit is better in qualifying almost every Saturday and Norris knows how to convert this into a result on Sunday, unlike last year. Sainz has lost the lead within his team, but it also makes us think for 2021. How is Sainz going to do at Ferrari, but above all: How hard will Daniel Ricciardo have it at McLaren?

Albon is still not fast enough

Alexander Albon has not yet removed the pressure off his shoulders, because with a ninth place in qualifying and a fifth place in the race, the gap to Max Verstappen is still too big. The victory of Verstappen may give Red Bull Racing the confidence that the Dutchman still has a chance at the title, but with such a second driver they can forget the title with the constructors.

However, you may wonder whether this is feasible at all in 2020 and whether it is better to just give Albon the time until there is a car in 2021 or even 2022. 

Verstappen can win a race on his own in 2020

It seemed almost impossible after the first four races and a gap of one second in qualifying, but Max Verstappen can win a race on his own in 2020. The strategy was of course perfect, but in retrospect it can be said that Verstappen could also have won on Mercedes' conservative strategy.

The Dutchman was simply faster than Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton on Sunday. That has never happened before in this season and is the first light on the horizon. The question is how soon will it disappear? Were these unique circumstances with the heat and soft tires or can Red Bull do this trick more often?