Mercedes really in shape again? 'Could have been circuit characteristics'

The battle between Mercedes and Red Bull this year has been spectacular in many ways both on and off the track. Despite the fact that Max Verstappen could have had a much bigger lead over his rival, Lewis Hamilton, with a bit of luck, neutral fans are being treated to a fantastic battle.

In an article on the site of MotorsportMagazine Mark Hughes says that this season is clearly different from previous seasons and Mercedes, in particular, is in a completely different position.

"There are reasons for the anomalies - the sensitivity of the tyres to track temperatures and the difficulty of finding their 'sweet spot', two very different concepts of cars with contrasting characteristics in terms of set-up options and tyre use - but they only matter because the two cars are fundamentally quite close in terms of performance." This, therefore, ensures that Mercedes is currently in a different situation to previous years. A situation that will be uncomfortable for the team.

"In previous seasons, an unfavourable combination and shape for Mercedes would simply reduce the margin of its superiority rather than putting it behind another car. This season, the constantly shifting relative importance of the driving factors is made more visible by changing the colour of the car at the front (Red Bull)."

Return of Mercedes has to do with circuits?

According to Hughes, it just might be. Whereas Mercedes had taken a big lead in previous years around the summer break because the circuits were in their favour, Hughes believes this is now perhaps the only reason the battle is still exciting.

"Merc had started the season lagging behind, gradually got closer and then got into the lead. This could be interpreted as the team making progress. But it could just as well have been track characteristics and if the sequence of venues up to this point had gone in reverse order, would we have seen a pattern of Mercedes starting at the front but steadily falling further behind?"

At the Belgian and Dutch Grand Prix, which open the second half of the season in late August and early September, Red Bull and Verstappen will be looking to put the last two weekends behind them.