Red Bull scrutinised over Max Verstappen missed opportunity against Lewis Hamilton

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Former Williams and Ferrari Engineer Rob Smedley believes Red Bull have “failed to capitalise” on their Mercedes advantage this season after recent comments from Helmut Marko regarding dropped points.

After victory at the United States Grand Prix, Verstappen currently holds a 12 point lead heading into the Mexican Grand Prix, with just five races remaining in the 2021 F1 season.

But as the championship has ebbed and flowed between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, the Red Bull motorsport advisor believes there have been some pivotal moments that have hindered the Dutchman this season, which have left him with significantly fewer points than he might have achieved.

However, Smedley – who was a firm fan favourite throughout his career, notably because of his relationship with Felipe Massa – was clear which car he’d rather be working across in the paddock.

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“If I was going to go for car, I would go for the Red Bull,” said Formula 1’s director of data systems, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast. “I think it’s a slightly better car and it has been a better car all season.

“I read something over the weekend where Helmut Marko has said that Max has given away 50 points or something like that.

“Now, I don’t know whether that’s true. If you take the races where he hasn’t finished, it might not be a net 50 points compared to Lewis, but it’s certainly quite a few points that he’s given away.

“I think that they’ve had the best car. I think they had a significantly better car at the start of the season, and they’ve probably, it’s fair to say, failed to capitalise on that.

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“But then, as the season’s gone on, they’ve still kept that that small advantage. It’s swung Mercedes’ way on occasions but, overall, they’ve still had the best car.”

Yet when questioned on who he believed would take the title this season, Smedley believes Hamilton’s experience will give him the advantage heading into the final five races of the season.

“I’ve got to go with Lewis because he’s done it seven times before,” he continued.

“Now, that’s not to take anything away from Max, because Max is a once-in-a-generation talent, but I think that Lewis has learned more of his craft than Max – just like anybody, he’s just been doing it longer than Max.

“He’s done it seven times before, so if they were in identical cars with identical tyres and all the rest of it for the five remaining races, I would still back Lewis at this point in time.”

Qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix gets underway at 8pm BST on Saturday evening with the race at 7pm on Sunday.

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