1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill believes Red Bull Racing is sharper in management than its rivals competing for the title.
Red Bull Racing leads Ferrari by 76 points in the Constructors’ Championship, and Max Verstappen leads the closest non-Red Bull driver in the drivers’ ranking by 49 points.
Damon Hill believes that the 2022 F1 title battle will be Max Verstappen vs Charles Leclerc by the second half of the season.
Given the status quo, it may only be brought about by Charles Leclerc’s good luck and Max Verstappen’s misfortune, but Damon Hill believes that a jarring situation could occur later in the season.
“I think the championship is between Max and Charles. To make that happen, maybe Max needs some dropouts,” Damon Hill told Mirror.
“We haven’t ruled out finding the magic that Mercedes missed, but historical evidence points to a battle between the two of them.”
“It sounds like a lot of points, but it only requires a couple of slip-ups, and you lose 50 points. It’s very close. You can swing in either direction.”
“So far, Ferrari has stumbled on a mechanical failure. There are too many, but Max also had to deal with it at the beginning of the season.”
However, Damon Hill has an important feature that Red Bull Racing considers to be a winning candidate. It’s operational and strategic sharpness.
Red Bull Racing took an unexpected victory from Ferrari in Monaco. It’s thanks to the aggressive tire strategy that both drivers have taken to overtake Ferrari. Ferrari had locked out the front low, but Red Bull finished 1-3.
“Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto praised the team very quickly for Carlos (Sainz)’s quick thinking in Canada, which he kept within the safety car,” said Damon Hill.
“But I think Ferrari is a little flatfoot compared to Red Bull.”
Damon Hill recalled his time in F1 and said:
“We called Williams an engineering team to race. Benetton was an engineering race team.”
“It has two parts and Red Bull looks like a very sharp race team.”
“I know they had to fight tactically to get the advantage. They are very accustomed to seeing the race strategy, responding quickly and making alternatives. I’m good at
Red Bull Racing had to work hard to win individual races while running Renault’s F1 power units before switching F1 engines to Honda to become more competitive, so its sharpness Damon Hill believes that has overtaken Ferrari and Mercedes.
“The other teams aren’t as good as Red Bull,” said Damon Hill.
“Mercedes has been at the front for so long that I didn’t have to think as creatively as Red Bull. I think Ferrari is in the same situation.”
“They have focused on making their cars faster. They haven’t developed as much racing strategy as Red Bull.”
“Not so many, but Red Bull seems to seize the opportunity and do some tricky things, as it did in Abu Dhabi (2021). The rest of the team is only a moment behind.”
Category: Category: F1 / Red bull