Mercedes and Red Bull are both “on the edge” in this year’s Formula 1 title fight due to their relative speed, according to Mercedes’ strategy chief, ahead of the final four rounds of the season.
Mercedes and Red Bull have been locked in a close battle for the 2021 championship, winning 16 of the 18 races between them, and both titles remain up for grabs.
Mercedes holds a slender one-point advantage in the Constructors’ Championship while Max Verstappen leads Lewis Hamilton by 19 points in the Drivers’ standings.
Verstappen romped to a dominant win in Mexico City, his second on the bounce, but it came after Mercedes surprised by locking out the front row of the grid during qualifying for the second time in three events.
“One DNF both for ourselves or for Red Bull would completely change how this championship forms at the end of the season and ultimately, the points gap is tiny,” said Mercedes’ Strategy Director James Vowles.
“We’ve got four races to go, 19 points in the Drivers’ and one point in the Constructors’ in our favour. That’s nothing. It’s a reset condition.
“We’ve outqualified Red Bull at a track where they were stronger. It just shows you that each team is on the edge and you have to get everything absolutely spot on in order to get the result that you need and there is plenty of opportunity.
“The result of that is the positives that we can take out of it are that across the last few races even at tracks that perhaps don’t suit us as much we can be there or there about.”
Vowles outlined that the closely-contested nature of the fight means Mercedes is a tighter unit than at any point since its title-winning spree began in 2014.
“We are in this fight right until the end and I am sure we’ll be until Abu Dhabi until that chequered flag,” he said.
“The positives are that the team despite this punishing triple header are pulling together closer than I have ever seen before. The drivers are working together more than I’ve seen before as well.
“It’s a bonded team, a team that is here to do one goal which is to win both championships and that for me is a positive.”
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