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Mercedes appears to have a significant advantage over Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of reliability. This is one of the key observations pointed out by Mika Hakkinen in his column for the betting website Unibet.
While comparing the top three teams in his column, the Flying Finn pointed out that while both Red Bull and Ferrari have been somewhat plagued with reliability issues, Mercedes has been able to keep things relatively stable on that front.
Hakkinen said:
“Mercedes has the one thing both Red Bull and Ferrari lack: reliability. They are also quick enough to be consistently the third fastest car on the track and able to pick up good points whenever Red Bull or Ferrari have any issues. This looked like a step forward in terms of race set-up. The team has been trying new things on the car, sometimes making it very difficult for both drivers, but Sunday looked positive.”
It is quite interesting to see that Red Bull and Ferrari have suffered multiple DNFs this season despite being the top teams. Meanwhile, Mercedes has kept things relatively clean except for the power unit issue experienced by its drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona.
Mika Hakkinen sides with Mercedes on FIA's intervention on porpoising
Intervening into the porpoising problem plaguing multiple teams, the FIA released a technical directive on the same last weekend. The motorsport governing body stated that F1 cars will be monitored and not allowed to bounce beyond a particular threshold.
Meanwhile, Red Bull and Ferrari have questioned the timing of the FIA's intervention in technical regulations, while Mercedes has welcomed the move which led to a logjam before the race in Canada.
Mika Hakkinen felt that it was great to see the FIA intervene and treat drivers' health as a priority. Claiming that changes need to be made regardless of their scope to help one team over the other, he said:
“It is good to see the FIA listening to concerns about driver safety. As usual, the best way to get to sort it out is to measure what’s happening and then make some decisions based on what the data shows. Of course, some teams want to see changes, especially if the porpoising is making their cars uncompetitive, but once the FIA, teams, and drivers can get an accurate picture of what’s really happening, the right steps can be taken.”
The bouncing saga could get more intense in the future and it will be interesting to see which team ultimately ends up with an advantage after all of this.
