Ever since the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes had been firing at Red Bull with a series of accusations regarding their sudden spurt in straight-line speed. It was initially Lewis Hamilton, who noticed the ‘bendy’ rear wing on Max Verstappen’s car, which ultimately blew up into a war of words between the two teams’ bosses.

Eventually, Red Bull took the right step of altering their rear wing according to the FIA’s demands ahead of the French GP. Then, Hamilton came up with another theory that Red Bull had arrived at Le Castellet with a new engine, which the team ultimately proved wrong.

What’s more, during the press conference in Austria, Mercedes’ boss, Toto Wolff, acknowledged the legality of Red Bull’s engine.

The Austrian took the blame upon his own team, claiming Mercedes are just lagging behind in terms of pace. Although Christian Horner appreciated Wolff’s honesty, the Briton took a dig at Hamilton.

Horner’s advice to Lewis Hamilton

During the press conference, Horner opined that Wolff should explain the same to Hamilton as well, who constantly ridiculed Red Bull’s straight-line speed.

“I think Toto has answered it very well and I think maybe he should explain it to his driver. I listen with interest and sometimes some of the theories Lewis has are sometimes some way from reality,” Horner said.

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Despite the modified rear-wing, Red Bull still went on the lead the way in France last weekend. Mercedes had no answer to their rivals’ pace, as Hamilton gave up the lead at the very last lap of the race. This led to Verstappen extending his lead against his rival in the race for the 2021 title.

We run less drag: Red Bull boss

Horner opened up on why Red Bull have been extremely strong on the straights, which was never their strength in the past years.

“I think he has actually summarised it very well. We run less drag and we run lower wing. And as a result of that you tend to go a bit quicker down the straight sometimes,” Horner clarified.

It was yet another positive start to the weekend in Styria for Red Bull, with Verstappen securing P1 in both sessions on Friday. Meanwhile, Mercedes never looked comfortable in terms of the long runs, despite posting promising lap times on qualifying sims.

Overall, an interesting weekend is panning out for the viewers. And yet another Hamilton-Verstappen clash seems highly plausible. So, will Hamilton manage to pull Verstappen back on the championship table, keeping his title hopes alive? Well, we’ll know soon enough.

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