Column: Mercedes sting Red Bull and Ferrari every year

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix may not have been the most exciting race of the season, but once again an "old school circuit" accounted for some drivers' mistakes. In GPblog's analysis this week I am talking about Albon, Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Leclerc and Mercedes.

Albon, time to leave?

It makes no sense to dwell on Alexander Albon for a long time. The British-Thai has been the subject of so many columns and it is now clear that he has ruined it. Albon has been under pressure at Red Bull Racing for a year and a half and cannot meet the expectations of that team.

Albon got two more chances. In Portimao and Imola he had a chance to prove himself and show Christian Horner what he could do. Well, the result speaks for themselves. Albon can leave and maybe even move completely out of Formula 1. It now strongly seems that Nico Hulkenberg or Sergio Perez will join Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda will get his place at AlphaTauri. Then the sudden F1 appearance is over almost as quickly as it started.

Whether Hulkenberg and Perez are the ideal replacements, it remains to be seen. Both have never shown the speed that a Daniel Ricciardo could display next to Verstappen, but who knows, they might surprise us. However, with their experience, both should at least be able to fulfill the role of second driver within the team much better, just like Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes.

These are the ideal F1 circuits

Then the circuit. Imola is a historic circuit where the narrow road would be very difficult to overtake, but nothing could be further from the truth. No, it wasn't an overtaking spectacle, but these races are much more fun than the DRS races in Abu Dhabi, Azerbaijan, Russia and maybe Saudi Arabia next year? What is striking is that on these circuits you really see which drivers stand out and which drivers don't perform as well under the same equipment.

One man who is head and shoulders above the rest this year is Daniel Ricciardo. He was called the F1 clown at the beginning of this year by Olav Mol, but Ricciardo proves to be more than a clown. Ricciardo is currently the best driver in midfield, giving Renault great results. Esteban Ocon has been left behind and Ricciardo makes his list of defeated teammates even better. It now features Vergne, Vettel, Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Ocon, but of course also Max Verstappen.

Everyone often forgets that, but Ricciardo has still been the only driver to beat Verstappen. Yes, he was defeated by the Dutchman in 2018, but in 2016 he scored more points from the moment Verstappen joined the team and that was also the case in 2017. Yes, Verstappen retired seven times due to bad luck, but Ricciardo also retired six times. Verstappen may have turned out to be just a size too big for Ricciardo in 2018, but in the past two years, Ricciardo has once again proven that he no mug.

Leclerc is also a driver who knows how to get the most out of his material. Vettel struggles with himself and his car in the background, while Leclerc fights for P4 among the drivers. A nice fight between big names, because Sergio Perez also drove a strong weekend. Could it be because he still has a chance of a seat at Red Bull Racing?

Hunger in Paradise

Then Mercedes, which this weekend managed to capture their seventh world title in a row. No, it is certainly not fun for the sport, but for a company like Mercedes this is a unique achievement. Getting to the top of any business is difficult, but staying at the top is even more difficult. Keep challenging them to come up with something new every year that amazes the millions of companies that try to attack you every time. That can no longer be called happiness, it is pure class. The term "Hunger in Paradise" is something that has clearly been stamped into Mercedes.

The foundations for this success were built by Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher, but the current performance is mainly due to Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff. Yes, they win easily because they have the best car, but that's because they've done a great job.

This article originated on the Dutch version of GPblog.com and was written by Tim Kraaij