Hamilton growing wary of Red Bull and Honda combo

Lewis Hamilton is maintaining an increasingly vigilant watch on Red Bull Racing, insisting the Milton Keynes-based outfit and engine partner Honda are gaining momentum.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has comfortably outscored Hamilton in the last three races, thanks to wins in Austria and Germany, two races where Mercedes was outpaced and outraced by the Dutchman and his team.

In Hungary, Verstappen was runner-up to Hamilton in FP1 while Pierre Gasly led a Red Bull 1-2 in the rain disrupted FP2 session.

Hamilton isn’t the least bit surprised by Red Bull’s trending form, underlining the team’s heritage and the persistent quality of its chassis designs.

Verstappen: Red Bull ‘competitive’ but Mercedes still ahead

“What people need to remember is that it’s a multi-championship winning team, they’ve always had a very good car,” said Hamilton.

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“They have got Adrian Newey there who is one of the best designers there is in the sport.

“They had a slump with a little bit less power, and they had a period of time when they had a little bit less downforce than most people, but they’ve definitely crept back up and started to utilise its car more.

“Both drivers are now starting to put in good performances and they’re there. It’s clearly a very good car and we are in a period of time where it suits them.”

Indeed, many believe the Hungaroring’s high downforce and sinuous layout is tailor-made for Red Bull’s RB15, although Mercedes’ W10 also loves to devour slow-speed corners.

But Hamilton also notes the spectacular progress achieved by Honda, whose engine is now even more powerful than Mercedes’ unit in certain areas according to the Briton.

Upcoming power circuits Spa and Monza may well prove the reigning world champion’s point.

“Now they have a new power unit, they’re not lower than us on power, I think in some places they have got more power than us,” he contends.

“So, it will be interesting to see how they go in those other races.”

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