Mercedes overrated: 'Neither of which saw the Red Bull at its best'

Red Bull Racing seemed to have established a clear lead over Mercedes after the Austrian Grands Prix, but that changed during the last two races in Britain and Hungary. It is thought to be partly to do with the German team's upgrades, although Mark Hughes doesn't think this is too bad.

Hughes saw Mercedes start the weekend well at Silverstone, but warns Mercedes not to count themselves rich. "Silverstone's layout naturally suits a low-rake, low-drag concept of car such as the Mercedes - and even then it was only barely faster in qualifying than a Red Bull which was not switching its front tyres on as the track cooled. In the following day's sprint race, the Red Bull appeared to be faster," he comments at Sky Sports F1.

"So even at a circuit which might be expected to suit it, the Mercedes was not decisively faster. Its superiority in Hungary was surprising, though. But there the Red Bull was a long way out of its sweet spot, with Verstappen suffering big balance problems throughout the weekend. So we are left with a high probability that the Merc upgrades have added performance to the car, but not to the extent suggested by the last two races, neither of which saw the Red Bull at its best."

Belgium GP

As such, the British Formula One connoisseur is watching the upcoming GP weekends in Belgium and the Netherlands with great interest to see how the drivers have returned from holiday. For the time being, he is not ready to draw any conclusions about the chances of Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for the world title.