Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes warned it’s ‘very difficult’ to beat Red Bull to F1 title now

F1: Can Lewis Hamilton do it again?

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Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will struggle to catch Red Bull this season after Max Verstappen increased his lead at the top of the standings on the weekend. That’s the opinion of Formula One managing director Ross Brawn, who believes that Red Bull have begun to “assert their authority” on the sport after winning the Styrian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Verstappen produced a dominant performance to increase his lead in the Driver’s Championship to 18 points in Hungary.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton finished in second place once again as his rival gave Red Bull a fourth straight victory.

Hamilton won three of the first four races of the season but has struggled to keep pace with Verstappen in recent weeks and now faces a difficult task to defend his title.

The 36-year Brit was heard saying Mercedes need an “upgrade of some kind” to compete, yet his team boss Toto Wolff has made it clear that is not happening.

It’s a bleak picture for Hamilton and Mercedes ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix and Brawn says there is no obvious solution.

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“Red Bull are really starting to assert their authority,” he wrote for Formula1.com.

“It’s a very difficult year for Mercedes to come back because the focus is so strongly on next season – and the new regulations.

“Nothing can be done on the engine. Do they burn any resource on this car and sacrifice a bit for next year? I suspect not, as it’s so difficult to suddenly pick up the momentum on a car that you’ve probably stopped working on.

“They may try and race it more effectively, try and squeeze a bit more performance out of the set-up of the car, and how it’s working, but I don’t think we’re going to see any big upgrades or big changes in the car.

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“They have to squeeze a bit more juice out of the lemon without putting too much resource into it which could negatively impact next year.

“It looks like Red Bull are running a lower drag configuration, giving them a straight-line speed advantage.

“I don’t know if that is an option to Mercedes. Are they at the optimum? Do they question their simulations? Is the development of a new rear wing maybe the sort of project they could afford to put some resource into?

“That’s what going to be rattling around their minds until the break. Once the break is over, everyone will be committed to next year.

“Let’s see what happens in the next three races before the summer break.”

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