F1 News
Hamilton/Verstappen battle displayed “vast chasm” between top teams and the rest
- Bevan Youl
Ross Brawn has said that the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Hungarian Grand Prix displayed the “vast chasm” between the performance of the top teams and the rest of the grid.
Verstappen had led the race from pole up until the final laps as Mercedes’ opted to put Hamilton on a two-stop strategy, eventually catching and overtaking the Dutchman.
The pace of the two leaders left Ferrari nearly a minute behind, but Carlos Sainz, who finished fifth for McLaren, had been lapped by both Hamilton and Verstappen.
Brawn expressed his feelings about the gap between the top three teams and the leading midfield team in his post-race debrief, saying McLaren are “firmly staking a claim on being the fourth best team, but its drivers were both lapped by the winner."
"Four drivers from four different teams were lapped twice and another driver was actually lapped three times.
"With Hamilton and Verstappen fighting for the duration of the race, the pace at the front was astounding from the first to the final lap, as that was the only way to win.
"However, it demonstrated the vast chasm in performance between the top three teams and the rest.”
With the huge dominance of Mercedes since the introduction of the hybrid era in 2014, Ferrari and Red Bull are the only teams to have really posed any challenge to them.
But Brawn has stated several times over the years that the gap between the big three teams and the midfield must change, something him and the FIA are working to ensure when the 2021 regulations come in.
"I've said it so often, but this gap must be reduced,” added Brawn.
"It remains one of our main objectives for the future as, alongside the FIA, we continue to work on the 2021 regulations.
"It's an ambitious goal, and it won't happen overnight as we do not have a magic wand, but it has to be our central ambition, achieved via the three main areas of the rules: technical, sporting and financial.
"It's a key theme for the future of this sport and I think we are all in agreement on this, starting with the fans, whom we must listen to, because, at the end of the day, they are our most important asset."