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Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff say Hungaroring is well-suited for Red Bull and they expect “a closer battle”.
Although Mercedes bested Red Bull in the first two races of the 2020 season, Toto Wolff expects Red Bull to fight back at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“I think where we lost to Red Bull is the slow speed [corners], particularly Turns 3 and 4, seem to be our vulnerabilities,” Wolff said.
“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.”
“I’m 100% convinced that [Red Bull] will come very strong in Hungary. 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,” concluded the Austrian.
Lewis Hamilton agrees that it won’t be easy to beat Red Bull this weekend.
“It is a circuit that the Red Bulls usually do really well, I think they led the race there last year, so it is not going to be easy,” said the Briton.
“They were quickest [in Austria] on Friday this weekend and we beat them today and managed to eke them out in performance, but I think we go to that track and it is more of a medium- and low-speed circuit.
“It should bode well for them, so it is going to be a closer battle. In Turn 3 the Red Bulls kept killing us here. They were stronger than us through there and I think Turn 4. There are areas where we can improve on.
“They are a fantastic team, and they do a really great job. I don’t know where they are weaker than us currently, whether it is on engine power or downforce, but I see them as our main competitors through the year.”
Source: autosport.com
