Mercedes ended Red Bull’s five-race winning streak at the British Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton clinched his eighth home win after a 10-second penalty.
Hamilton was punished after colliding with Red Bull driver Verstappen on the first lap at Copse, resulting in a 51G crash for the Dutchman.
At the weekend, Mercedes experienced an upswing in form after being beaten across the board by Red Bull in both Austrian races, with Hamilton leading the qualifying on Friday and finishing second in the sprint race.
But Mercedes track engineer Andrew Shovlin thought it was “naive” for the team to travel to Hungary, expecting to repeat their performance at Silverstone, and gave Red Bull a tip to react.
“This is one of our best circuits, so it would be naive to think that we can go there and expect to see that performance with us,” said Shovlin after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
“Red Bull will be good on a track with high downforce – to be honest, they will be good on every track right now – and they will be a little bit injured after the experience here.
“So I’m sure they’ll come back really strong.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, 1st place
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
At the Silverstone weekend, Mercedes was able to hold its own at the top of both championships when Red Bull went through Verstappen’s sprint victory with just three points.
Hamilton is only eight points behind Verstappen in the drivers ‘standings, while Mercedes is only four points behind Red Bull at the top of the constructors’ table.
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Shovlin believed it would be a big boost for Mercedes if it could recapture the leadership of both championships before the summer break after trailing Red Bull since Monaco.
“We’re about in the middle of the championship, there is a very fine point gap and for us we’re going to do everything we can to try to get through,” said Shovlin.
“If we can go into the summer break, that would be fantastic. That’s probably the goal we’re going to set ourselves, but it’s a stretch target.
“But we showed [at Silverstone] that anything is possible. You just have to keep going, trying to get better and trying to improve yourself.
“They are a tough team to beat but I think we are a strong team and we will do everything we can to try to win.”
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