Red Bull’s struggles versus those of Mercedes

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While Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull finished top three at Interlagos, the probable results of the Brazilian Grand Prix are harder to predict. Red Bull took the surprising decision to use medium tyres, as opposed the soft tyres used by the other teams, which arguably led to its less impressive performance. However according to F1 champion Max Verstappen, even Red Bull’s soft tyres are prone to wearing out, and it is an issue that needs to be sorted out independently. This could hold some truth as Mercedes have demonstrated better tyre degradation than its rivals Ferrari and Red Bull. While it has not been able to edge out Red Bull too often, Mercedes’ success at Interlagos can be attributed to several other factors including the changing track temperature, which was 50 degrees Centigrade during the long runs, and 27 degrees Centigrade during the sprint. Such rapidly changing temperatures can also impact tyres.

Red Bull, who have previously benefitted from the heating up of the tracks at Mexico City, which loosened up its rear tyres, thus faced the effects of the cooling more than the other teams, with greater front tyre degradation. The team had faced similar hurdles at the Brazilian GP last year and had been debating the use of soft versus medium tyres for this race. However, if Verstappen is right, then Mercedes holds an advantage anyway, with tyres less prone to degradation, compared to both the soft and medium tyres of Red bull. Red Bull do have two sets of soft tyres as spare for the final race, and it remains to be seen if this can play a role in edging out Mercedes on race day.