Mercedes deliberately chooses the underdog role: 'Then Red Bull wins the title'

Mercedes seem increasingly aware of the risk Red Bull Racing poses to their current dominance. The German team has dominated Formula 1 since 2014, but in 2021 Mercedes and Red Bull appear to have similar cars, with the drivers set to make the difference.

According to Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes is managing to keep the pressure on Red Bull. For the past seven seasons, it has been precisely Red Bull trying to put pressure on Mercedes. "I think we were able to put them under some pressure in the race. Whether we had the car to win, I don't know. We can't see how hard Max was pushing at certain times," Shovlin acknowledged in conversation with ESPN.

Mercedes must work hard

Still, he sees Mercedes with Hamilton on the same level as Verstappen and Red Bull. From the data, Shovlin could see that Hamilton was able to keep up with the pace during much of the race. "If you look at the sector times and where we were in the corners, it felt like it was close," he said.

Still, Shovlin keeps himself from thinking easily about Mercedes' chances this season. "We won't leave here and pat ourselves on the back, thinking we had the fastest car by a small margin. We will leave here feeling that we could have done better and that they (Red Bull) will win the title if we don't start improving our car soon. That is our mindset, we are still in the chase," said Shovlin.