"Mercedes brought upgrades, but we never saw the whole story"

Mercedes will have gone into the summer break with more confidence than a few weeks ago when there seemed to be a slight sense of panic among Red Bull Racing's rivals. Has the German side finally regained the advantage, or have the last two races been a failure to show the progression?

Lewis Hamilton has been catching up with Mercedes in a big way compared to Max Verstappen. But do Red Bull's unfortunate recent results give a distorted picture, or has Mercedes regained the advantage? "Mercedes came to Silverstone with upgrades, but we never saw the whole story," says Rosario Giuliana on Motorsportweek.com. "Would Verstappen have disappeared on the horizon without that crash?"

Hungary couldn't paint a clear picture of the proportions either, as Valtteri Bottas put an early end to Red Bull's hopes of a win. "But we can be sure that Mercedes' updates have brought them back into contention," says Giuliana, who sees particular progress in balance and aerodynamic efficiency.

"Mercedes' approach differed from that of Red Bull, which chose to spread out the technical innovations. Mercedes, on the other hand, applied all the technical updates in one weekend. In addition, they have been smart in copying parts from other teams, including Red Bull. It's not so much that Red Bull has gone backwards, but Mercedes has made progress," Giuliana concludes.