Breaking news
Formula 1
F1’s rake focus a "distraction" from real issues, says Brundle
Martin Brundle believes the current intrigue in Formula 1 surrounding car rake is a distraction from the real issues at play between Mercedes and Red Bull.
Tom Howard
Edited: Apr 13, 2021, 2:34 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The pace shown by F1’s top two teams at the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix left Mercedes in no doubt that its form had been hit by new rules introduced this year.
In particular, it believes that changes to the floor aimed at cutting downforce have hurt low rake cars like its own and Aston Martin much more than high rake models like Red Bull.
Aston Martin even went as far as suggesting the rule changes resulted in its car losing one second per lap of performance compared to high rake rivals.
Sky Sport F1 pundit Brundle is not convinced though that the rake issue offers the full explanation behind Mercedes apparent pace struggles.
He is confident that despite its early struggles with the W12, the Brackley squad will “get it together” as he still thinks Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton are the team/driver combination to beat.
“I think the rake thing is a little bit of a distraction and I think the Mercedes is not really working that well at the moment,” Brundle told Motorsport.com.
“Red Bull and Honda are working particularly well, as are a few other cars.
“The regulations mean you can’t just keep throwing new upgrades at it every week like they have perhaps done in the past, but Mercedes will get it together.
“[Lewis] Hamilton and Mercedes are still the combo to beat for the world championship.”
Read Also:
- Mercedes: Going high rake would write off F1 2021 campaign
- Low-rake F1 runners warned of rules impact last year
- How low-rake F1 concept has put Aston Martin at a crossroads
Looking ahead to next weekend’s race at Imola, Brundle is predicting another closely fought contest between Mercedes and Red Bull.
The ex-F1 driver turned distinguished broadcaster says that Hamilton’s Bahrain victory proved that Mercedes, even on the back foot, cannot be underestimated.
“It depends what they do to their car in between times,” added Brundle, when asked if he thought Mercedes would have a tougher battle to overcome Red Bull at Imola.
“It is obviously more limited as to what you can change anyway now.
“I wouldn’t underestimate Mercedes. I mean everybody is talking about rake and how it has damaged Mercedes and therefore Aston Martin, but unless I’m mistaken, a Mercedes won the race in Bahrain with Red Bull having dominated the last race [in Abu Dhabi] last year.
“I think it will be really close, they will sort the Mercedes out.
“Hamilton was absolutely magnificent in Bahrain and for me he won the race as much as anybody else lost it, or any team lost it.
“I really don’t know who will be best around Imola and that is the wonderful thing about live sport.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Schumacher: No reason Haas can’t fight for Q2 this year
Next article How to make a huge impact in your one and only F1 start
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Tom Howard
Rally US reveals further details ahead of WRC 2027 return
WRC
WRC 14 h
Rally US reveals further details ahead of WRC 2027 return
Sesks tight-lipped on WRC future after ERC season finale triumph
WRC
WRC
Sesks tight-lipped on WRC future after ERC season finale triumph
Latest news
Chevrolet's 1st through 6th sweep at Talladega was its first since 2013
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
1 h
Chevrolet's 1st through 6th sweep at Talladega was its first since 2013
NASCAR warned nearly the full field at Talladega for minimum speed violations
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
4 h
NASCAR warned nearly the full field at Talladega for minimum speed violations
Carson Hocevar credits tow truck driver for saving his race at Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
8 h
Carson Hocevar credits tow truck driver for saving his race at Talladega
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
9 h
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe