Column | Verstappen got under Hamilton's skin and forced him into errors

Mercedes supremacy

Since 2014, Mercedes have been supreme. The German team designed an engine for the new hybrid era that was so much better than those of its competitors that (as Paddy Lowe revealed on Beyond the Grid the other day) they even scaled it back at times. The team's drivers fought an internal battle but never were Mercedes under pressure from another team.

That changed from 2017 when Ferrari emerged with a competitive package. Sebastian Vettel won two of the first three races and seemed to be on his way to his fifth world title. However, Ferrari and Vettel could not handle the pressure, making more mistakes than Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. In 2018, Ferrari and Vettel had another chance, but failed again.

Ferrari's attack is repulsed

The first attack was thus repelled by Mercedes, which then saw Ferrari fall away after engine tampering. In 2019 and 2020, the biggest threat came from the camp of Red Bull Racing, and in particular Max Verstappen. The Dutchman regularly managed to get close to the Mercedes, and so we saw a festival of errors from Mercedes at the 2019 German Grand Prix and the team also made mistake after mistake at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

Hamilton's title experience

Still, they remained hair-raising, as Red Bull and Verstappen never managed to put pressure on Mercedes for an entire year. However, that seems to be different in 2021. Red Bull came up with a strong RB16B, which was competitive in Bahrain. Mercedes had a lesser car, judging by the qualifying in Bahrain, but still scored a victory and a third place in the first race. In those first races, especially in Bahrain and Spain, you could see that Mercedes has gained more experience in fighting for pole, victory and the perfect strategy every week.

It was that experience that put Mercedes and Hamilton on top. Hamilton's strategy was perfect in Bahrain and Spain, while Imola and Spain saw him produce a perfect lap, making Verstappen's mistakes more noticeable. Verstappen and Red Bull made small mistakes all the time, but Mercedes aren't faultless either.

Recurring festival of errors

In Imola this year we saw the first series of mistakes by Mercedes. Hamilton went into the gravel under pressure and barely managed to get his car back on track. He was ironically 'saved' when his teammate Valtteri Bottas crashed out of the race in a duel with George Russell. The damage to Mercedes was limited as Hamilton was able to get back to P2 and Sergio Perez didn't score any points for Red Bull, but they were definitely mistakes. The damage to Bottas' car had major consequences though, as Mercedes would have preferred to use the cost of the repair job to develop the car.

Until now it was mainly Red Bull's small mistakes that were exposed and not the enormous error-fest we've seen from Mercedes under pressure. For the first time, it has happened twice in one season though, as the team's festival of errors in Monaco will not go unpunished.

Dramatic weekend in Monaco

It all started with Lewis Hamilton, who just couldn't get together with his car this weekend. Valtteri Bottas was faster in qualifying, and that doesn't happen to Lewis very often. It was a weekend that we saw in his days with Nico Rosberg, where he just doesn't seem to be getting it right. We've seen less of that in recent years, although it may have been less accentuated by his lower quality teammate.

With Hamilton starting from P6 due to the retirement of Charles Leclerc and Bottas starting from P2, there wasn't much to worry about. Yes, Red Bull looked set to score more points here with a possible win for Verstappen, but with Sergio Perez in P8 the damage for the team was still limited.

The first big mistake was made by the team with the pit stop for Hamilton. The Briton had saved his tyres for laps in order to go longer than the rest, and like Perez and Vettel, would've gained places with an overcut. It's a strategy often used in Monaco, because with the undercut you often get stuck in traffic. With the overcut, you can save your tyres until the car in front of you enters the pits, and then squeeze the last out of your tyres for a few laps.

Error upon error

Funnily enough, Mercedes opted for the undercut, and it worked out all wrong. Not only was Hamilton stuck behind Pierre Gasly, but Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel also passed him with the right strategy. The Briton was furious over the onboard radio, and after the race was not happy with his team.

Hamilton lost only net one spot, as Mercedes made an even bigger blunder in the pits. The wheel nut of Bottas' tyre was stuck, making it impossible to remove the tyre. This was a very expensive one for Mercedes and Bottas.

Cracks in Mercedes' stronghold

With Red Bull in P1 and P4 and only Mercedes in P7, the lesser weekend had suddenly turned into a disaster weekend. Red Bull gained 30 points on Mercedes and Verstappen 18 on Hamilton. Mercedes' festival of errors was punished by Red Bull Racing this weekend, unlike the weekend in Imola.

Red Bull are learning from their mistakes and are getting better and better at this fight. Mercedes will have to come to terms with that. Small mistakes are often overlooked, but when things go wrong for the Germans, they really go wrong. One weekend in a season is fine, but two in five races is too much. Mercedes' hairline cracks are now looking more like cracks. Can Red Bull break their rival completely, or can Mercedes recover?

It is clear that there is a need for internal discussions. Hamilton was not satisfied with his team. After the race, he told Ziggo Sport that he didn't need to improve anything but his team did. Statements we are not used to from Hamilton, who normally defends his team until the end of time. The last time we saw this was in 2016, when Rosberg got under Hamilton's skin, and it looks like Verstappen is doing the same in 2021.