Mercedes Technical Director, Mike Elliott, talks about the tough 2021 F1 season so far and how the team revived itself in the last two races before summer break.
After host of troubled races for Mercedes until Silverstone, where Red Bull led the way, the crash for Max Verstappen there and even at Hungaroring saw them lose both the championships lead to the German outfit, heading into the summer break.
Mercedes is 12 points ahead of Red Bull, while Lewis Hamilton is eight ahead of Verstappen at the halfway mark into the 2021 F1 season – which Eliott reckons is revival for them, especially after the gap their rivals pulled out before the Silverstone weekend.
In fact, Mercedes had to push with few upgrades too, so as to stay up with Red Bull. The last two races has certainly instilled some confidence in the team and they are not raring to go in the second half to end the current regulations with a classic F1 season.
“I think it has been a really tough season so far and I think Mercedes are probably feeling quite tired,” said Eliott. “I think we have been enthused and energised by the last two races before the summer break, and I am sure Red Bull will come back really strong as a result of that.
“I think a few races ago before the break, we probably would have been looking at this and thinking, this is going to be really tough going into a break not in the position we wanted to be in the championship and with a car which felt we were clearly second best. We have obviously had some good results in the last two races, luck has definitely gone in our favour and we are sitting in a good position in the championship.
“But I think for me, what’s really encouraging is the pace we have shown in the last two races. Particularly the qualifying in Budapest, to qualify one and two and by a reasonable margin, that’s the strongest position we have been in so far this season. The rest of the season is definitely going to be tough, it is going to be a real fight between Mercedes and Red Bull. I think it is going to be one of those classic F1 seasons, hopefully one we win, but I think it is going to be fantastic for you, the viewers, to watch,” summed up Eliott.
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