Red Bull has won the last five races, securing the lead at the top of both championships. Max Verstappen is 32 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings.
Red Bull’s constructors’ championship lead is 44 points after he had further broken away last weekend with a commanding victory for Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix, in which he led every single lap for the second race in a row.
Mercedes struggled to match the performance of the Red Bull RB16B car in recent races, leading Hamilton to request an upgrade to bolster their hopes for an eighth world title.
The final updates to the Mercedes W12 car will arrive at the UK Grand Prix this coming weekend and will be vital for the team to bridge the gap with Red Bull.
Team boss Toto Wolff said, however, that the fight with Red Bull for Mercedes, which has won every F1 world championship title since the beginning of the V6 hybrid era in 2014, is an “enjoyable life experiment” and would only make the team stronger.
“We have a great attitude in the team and the values we have are the team’s immune system,” said Wolff.
“The immune system means that you have to function when things go bad, and after seven consecutive championships we are currently in a situation where we are fighting a tough battle against all odds.
“I wouldn’t say fun is the right word, but it’s a new experience that will make us stronger in the long run.
“Every day is a new learning experience and every day makes us stronger, even when we have so many consecutive weekends that are tough.
“I think we’ll look back many years and say that was necessary.”
Toto Wolff, team principal and CEO of Mercedes AMG, is interviewed
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Wolff has already made it clear that due to the importance of the 2022 regulations and the coming cycle from next year onwards, Mercedes will not deviate from its plan to stop the development of the car in 2021.
However, since only nine of the 23 races planned for this year were completed, Wolff emphasized that Mercedes would not panic with the title race still to come.
“I’ve tried all these years to stay on the ground by not getting carried away by the performance, and now I have to do the opposite,” said Wolff after the race in Austria.
“We won’t give up at this stage of the season. We will not give up at any point in the season unless it is mathematically no longer possible to win this championship.
“So we have to be more optimistic than pessimistic, as we have done in the past, and there are things to take with us, even from a day like today.”
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