Red Bull tries to challenge Mercedes at enigmatic Tuscany GP – Formula 1

Formula One teams face an enigma. Mugello entered the championship at the last minute, without the World Cup having stepped once for a GP. Therefore, there is not enough data, history of success or anything that represents an advantage. Just the simulator and look there. Pole from the Tuscan GP, ​​Lewis Hamilton even tried to appeal, but ended up even surrendering to the engineers’ spreadsheet and the talent to beat his colleague Valtteri Bottas, who had been dominating the weekend. But the truth is that the beautiful Italian circuit holds some secrets that could make this Sunday’s race (12) one of the most interesting of the season. In addition to the uniqueness of its 15 corners, the abrasive asphalt and the narrow track with little margin for error, there is also the element of surprise. And it starts with Red Bull.

After a step out of the curve at Monza, the energy drink rescued good form at Mugello, but one step ahead of what they were showing so far. The grid for the ninth stage of the championship is the strongest of the bulls so far, as Max Verstappen and Alex Albon dominated the second row, with the Dutchman positioned all the time in the glue of the black cars. And that’s since Friday of free practice. The truth is that the RB16 seems to enjoy this more challenging type of track, with long-radius corners and changes of direction. It is also true to say that the Anglo-Thai was not that close to his teammate, but it is equally correct to say that fourth place is a good response from the young man, who now has the opportunity to help the team to properly face Mercedes. since Max already has the rhythm for that.

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Therefore, the beginning and the strategy will be fundamental. The Tuscan circuit has a huge straight, and that means braking at the end has all-or-nothing potential, because it’s a reasonable space to narrow the first corner. This could be the Austrian’s initial move: try to get at least one German car; For those who don’t remember, Bottas lost several positions at Monza seven days ago, and the start of the race was not the Finn’s strong point. This is even the fear of the six-time champions.

“Today’s performance was the closest to us that Red Bull has been in qualifying this year, and that generally translates into a close race. They also have two cars ahead, which gives them a few more options, ”said Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes track engineer.

“I hope it will be an interesting race. It will be difficult on the tires and there are some different strategies that end with almost the same race time, so I think we will see a variety of decisions and pit stops, ”he added.

In fact, the test tactic will be almost a separate chapter. After training on Friday, there was an expectation that Mercedes and Red Bull, at least with Verstappen, would opt for medium tires for the start of the race, but they did not. The difference of 0s9 between soft and yellow compounds was too great for the risk. Thus, all the top ten on the grid will start the race with the red rubber, which has already shown a marked degradation during free sessions.