Red Bull not the fastest team after France? Mercedes has done it before'

“I think it’s so close. I honestly think Mercedes could have won that race. I don’t think Red Bull had such a fast car that it was inevitable that they were going to win that race on Sunday. I think that Max had some pretty severe tyre degradation going onto that second set of tyres," explained the former McLaren mechanic in his own analysis.

Red Bull not immediately fastest after victory

"If you look historically, Lewis tends to look after his tyres a little bit better than Max". However, Red Bull prevented the Dutchman from having to stay on the hardest tyre for long and quickly brought Verstappen back in for a second stop, after which he won the race.

"I don’t think that what we saw on Sunday was absolutely definitive, that the championship is over and that Red Bull has the best car. I think Red Bull have a very strong car, but so do Mercedes on the right day and how many times in the past have we seen Mercedes come up against problems or weaknesses in their car and yet go ahead and work really hard to overcome those."

Limiting mistakes very important

According to Priestley, this season will be a direct duel between Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen, where any mistake could be punished. "We are seeing two teams performing at their very peak of their abilities right now. They are looking for the fine margins, and that will make for mistakes, both from a driving perspective and strategically and that's going to happen over the course of this season. It might be the team or driver that makes the fewest mistakes that ends up coming out on top."