In 2021 Max Verstappen hopes to be able to go for the title with Red Bull Racing. After the victory in Abu Dhabi during the last Grand Prix of the season, the Austrian team is confidently entering the winter. “Let’s hope that Red Bull can compete with Mercedes next year,” said Michael Bleekemolen in an interview with RacingNews365. “However, it will not be easy to close the gap with Mercedes, as the Germans are not sleeping either. I also understand that they had to drive with a scaled down engine in Abu Dhabi because they were afraid of reliability problems.”
That could also indicate that Mercedes has come close to the maximum performance of the V6 hybrid engine, although that point is not yet in sight, according to Bleekemolen. “I think they will find something again at Mercedes this winter, simply because so many people are working on it all year round, they always find something again. That also applies to Honda. year, I am convinced that they will give everything again. It is their honor to keep doing everything possible. “
“It also costs Honda a few million more to go for it one more time and they will certainly make that investment. The Japanese and Mercedes were also close together this season, so in that respect that offers prospects for Honda. Next year we will hopefully see a real battle between the two, although the battle will already be decided on the test bench. “
Red Bull will only say goodbye to Honda at the end of next year, but at the end of this season it was already decided to put Alexander Albon aside. The Thai continues as a test driver at Red Bull Racing, but Sergio Perez takes his place as the race driver of the Austrian team. “It will in any case go better for Perez than for Albon at Red Bull, but Max will still be the boss. Verstappen will not drive Perez around the ears, but he will always be a few tenths faster than the Mexican”, said Bleekemolen.
In addition to advantages, are there also disadvantages to the arrival of Sergio Perez to Red Bull? Tom Coronel, Ruud Dimmers and Thomas van Groningen discuss this and more in RacingNews365’s latest podcast. Listen to it below.
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