In recent years, fans have seen the Mercedes F1 team constantly take the lead during a race or even entire seasons. Well, there is finally good news for those who have wished for interesting battles at the head of the field.
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Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas hinted that the glowing shape of the Silver Arrows could finally come to an end this season. The Finn reiterated that Mercedes is no longer the dominant racing team as Red Bull has finally arrived to give its rivals a tough time on the track.
What did Valtteri Bottas say?
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During the press conference before the race in Imola, Bottas was asked if his team had a chance of dominating the pack given the threat from Red Bull.
“I think it might be difficult to dominate a Grand Prix this year, but you never know. We used to only see cars on one lane, ”he said.
“We saw pretty big variations in performance from track to track. So yes. You never know. But I can’t really see anyone dominate this year. “
When Mercedes fired its 2021 challenger W12 in Bahrain, the entire F1 paddock expected the car to be slow through testing. And that’s exactly how it turned out.
There was a turn in the story, however; Mercedes never made sandbags, but actually struggled to find the pace. Her considerable loss of speed was seen under the lights in Bahrain throughout the weekend.
Red Bull then tried its best to overwhelm its rivals and secure its first season opener win since 2011, only to be stopped by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
What to expect from Mercedes and Red Bull at the Emilia-Romagna GP
It is common knowledge that the Bahrain GP is one of the strongest suits for Mercedes. Given the way the Stuttgart team fought on what was once their favorite track, things are looking pretty bad for them in Imola next weekend.
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Formula 1 F1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and Red Bulls Max Verstappen in action during the REUTERS / Hamad I Mohammed race
Yes, Mercedes won at Imola last year, but you also have to take into account that Red Bull has had reliability issues and not particularly slowly. Therefore, Red Bull will have the upper hand in battle this year with the strong performance in Bahrain.
Max Verstappen in particular will long to redeem his rival Hamilton. Additionally, the aspect of the weather could add some spice to this already intense battle.
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Overall, given the gloomy weather forecast for Sunday, which of the maestros of the wet circuit, Hamilton and Verstappen, are going to bring their noses forward?
The post Emilia Romagna GP: Bottas insists that Mercedes’ F1 dominance is over first appeared on monter-une-startup.
