Mercedes is anticipating a closer battle with Red Bull around the twists and turns of the Hungaroring this weekend.
The opening doubleheader in Austria was very much a tale of two races with the German manufacturer showing off their prowess with a clear one-two in the second round after struggling a little with sensor issues in the first.
When it came to where Mercedes’ advantage came from, however, for Red Bull it was a case of the same old story in the hybrid era.
“Mercedes are very strong,” said team boss Christian Horner.
“The distance the three guys were ahead of the rest of the field was enormous. Max [Verstappen] did well to keep up as well as he did.
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“Their straight-line speed is impressive, there is not much there in cornering speed,” he added.
“There are some corners we are better, some we are not quite as good, but certainly on this track, their straight-line speed has been very impressive so they’ve made a good step over the winter.”
Despite some reliability questions, Mercedes did claim they had made significant gains in engine performance for this season, but the amount they have improved by has caught Red Bull supplier Honda by surprise.
Even so, at the Hungaroring, cornering speed is much more crucial than engine power and it’s for that reason both Red Bull and Mercedes expect a closer duel.
“I think where we lost to Red Bull is the slow speed [corners], particularly Turns 3 and 4, seem to be our vulnerabilities,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted reflecting on Austria.
“Everywhere else on the straights and in the fast corners, we are quicker. We just need to continue to develop and push and understand the car.
“Budapest is a totally different ball game. Lots of downforce, lots of these slow and medium-speed corners. We’ll see how it works there.”
Another factor is the heat that also typically builds in Budapest, which would also work against Mercedes.
“I’m 100% convinced that [Red Bull] will come very strong in Hungary,” Wolff continued.
“It’s a track that historically they have shown great performance. We have improved there too in the last few years, but it was always a difficult weekend.
“Hot temperatures are maybe still a little bit of an achilles’ heel for us, and as far as I have seen on our weather forecast, it could be up to 30 degrees on Sunday.
“We need to prepare well, put all the focus on Budapest, and then hopefully do the best out of that.”