‘Hamilton needs to realise Verstappen is simply faster'

The Grand Prix in France in 2018 and 2019 was a big Mercedes party. In 2021, however, the roles are completely reversed. Red Bull Racing was the fastest and the smartest and won the race based on the alternative strategy. A double podium, because next to Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez was in third place. Auto, Motor und Sport analyzes the race and sees that Red Bull has played the race smart.

"Because of Perez, Mercedes decided not to switch to a two-stopper. The world champions were afraid that they could not get past the second Red Bull. That fear was so great that they didn't dare to do that with one driver either." According to the German medium, that fear caused the race to go from bad to worse for the German team.

Perez helps Verstappen immensely

"Perez helped Verstappen to victory by staying in Mercedes' pit window. This prevented the world champion's strategists from using the tactics of Spain again". However, Red Bull were able to use those tactics even though Valtteri Bottas was in Verstappen's window. The team had confidence in the Dutchman to overtake the Finn on the track.

"Hamilton has to start realising that on Sunday his rival did better in France". AMuS also paid attention to the track itself, which normally makes for a very boring race. This time it was exciting from start to finish, with constant tension upfront and overtaking in midfield. "In the opening stages, it didn't look like a highlight, but more like an unusual race in Paul-Ricard. The opposite happened," with which the German medium refers to an exciting race, which we had not seen in France yet.