Hill: "Red Bull knows they can take the title away from Mercedes"

It was an eventful race weekend in Azerbaijan, which didn't end as hoped for by either Red Bull Racing or Mercedes. Red Bull did pull away from the championship with Sergio Perez's victory, something that won't help the mood at Mercedes. Damon Hill also sees hairline cracks appearing at the German team.

It was the second weekend in a row that did not go as expected for Mercedes. In Monaco, they had to make do with a handful of points, and in Baku, it was even worse: the team went home with zero points. In the meantime, there's a whole soap opera going on behind the scenes as well, with staff running off to Red Bull Racing's engine department.

Mercedes now finds itself in a position they are not used to: the team is second in the championship and has to catch up to stay in contention. According to Hill, this is putting tremendous pressure on the team. "They have periods of stress now and are being challenged by the competition," he says on the F1 Nation podcast.

According to the 1996 world champion, Mercedes therefore cannot afford to keep the focus at 2022 already, because Red Bull Racing will take advantage of it immediately. "They are opportunistic. This is their chance to win the title, and they know that if Mercedes loosens their grip even a little bit, they can take the title away from them," Hill said.