Albers: "The total package works better for Hamilton than for Verstappen"

Max Verstappen got off to a strong start at the Spanish Grand Prix by passing Lewis Hamilton right at the start. Thanks to a good strategy from Mercedes, the British champion eventually managed to overtake Verstappen again, which was a similar strategy to the one used in Hungary 2019. It is also notable that Hamilton has more speed towards the end of his stints and that is what Red Bull Racing need to work on.

Lewis always just a little bit faster

So says former F1 driver Christijan Albers in the new Telegraaf Formula 1 podcast. Without being able to be very specific, Albers indicates that Verstappen perhaps pushes a bit too much at the start of the race, which has an effect on his tyres. This is exactly where Hamilton takes it easier, giving him the chance to overtake Verstappen again. Another factor is that Verstappen is really on the limit, which makes it hard to place the actual position of the car.

Albers: "Lewis is always faster than Max at the end of a stint, and we've seen that in all the Grands Prix now. And that's what Red Bull really needs to focus on now with the next Grands Prix coming up", because according to Albers that's where the difference lies. Still it remains difficult, because there are so many factors that can play a role.

"One: Lewis just starts more calmly and doesn't push as hard at the beginning, so he lets the tyres get up to temperature more calmly instead of peaking directly. Because that makes it very difficult for the tyres. And number two: it could be the car setup, of course, which in turn could have to do with a slightly longer wheelbase, which makes the car a little calmer, a little easier to drive, and a little less aggressive for the tires. It could also have to do with the set-up, so that's already several factors that come into play."

The total package

Those are a lot of specific elements, but to sum it up nicely Albers cites the total package. This is then simply better at Mercedes. "It has to do with that the total package works better with Lewis than with Max Verstappen. Now we also have Max who really drives on the limit of the Red Bull, so he's always somewhere he shouldn't be."

"That also makes it harder for me, the fans and the people who know about it to know where that Red Bull should be in a long run. Because when you have someone performing better than the car can handle and the tyres can handle... that's the difficult thing in watching and analysing the race."

After which Albers then draws the comparison with Bottas, because if you take Hamilton out of the equation for a moment, Verstappen would again be well ahead of Bottas. In that sense that also means that Hamilton gets more out of the car than the Finn can. What is clear is that the two second placed drivers are not up to the task, but - as Albers concludes - "Mercedes has it better with Bottas than Red Bull has with Perez."