JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Lewis Hamilton knows a thing or two about dominating in Formula One. From 2014 to 2020 he won over 50 percent of the races and secured six of the seven drivers’ championships on offer. At times his Mercedes car appeared unbeatable, but in all those years of supremacy he believes he never had a performance advantage as big as the one Red Bull holds right now.
“I’ve definitely never seen a car so fast,” Hamilton said after Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen completed Red Bull’s second one-two victory of the season in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
“I think when we were fast, we weren’t that fast. That is the fastest car I have seen compared to the rest.”
Verstappen, who started 15th on the grid after a driveshaft failure in qualifying, rocketed past Hamilton for seventh place on lap 12 of the race and was up to second place behind teammate Perez by the midway point on lap 25.
“I don’t know how or why but he came past me at such a serious speed,” Hamilton added. “I didn’t bother to block because it was a massive speed difference.
“Of course, everyone wants to see all the teams closer, but that isn’t the way it is.”
There’s an argument Mercedes hit a similar level of supremacy when F1 switched to turbo-hybrid engines in 2014, but comparing dominance over different eras makes little difference to the reality Red Bull’s rivals are currently facing. By any metric you choose to measure car performance — be it straight-line speed, cornering speed or tyre management — Red Bull’s advantage at the first two races has looked insurmountable.
Full credit should go to Red Bull for the step it’s made over the winter (more on that later), but it’s also clear that its traditional rivals Mercedes and Ferrari have missed the mark with their latest car designs. Both teams hoped the switch from a rough track surface in Bahrain to a smoother one in Jeddah would help close the gap to the front, but the difference was either negligible or even extended on race day.
Mercedes could point to some small gains in the understanding of its car, especially on George Russell’s side, but Ferrari appeared to make a step backwards. Carlos Sainz, who finished sixth behind both Mercedes drivers, said Ferrari had already identified an issue with tyre degradation in Bahrain and the repeat in Saudi Arabia confirmed the problem, which was exacerbated by running for most…
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