Formula 1: Mercedes looking 'very competitive', warn Red Bull

The 2021 Formula 1 Championships is going to the wire with contenders in both Constructors and Drivers Championships going neck and neck with Vax Verstappen of Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes tied on 3695 points each with Mercedes leading Red Bull by just 28 points in the constructors titleAfter 21 Grands Prix races it all comes down to Saturdys top10 shootout and Sundys seasonending Abu Dhabi race With Hamilton topping the second free practice Red Buls championship contender Max Verstappen and Team Principal Christian Horner have admitted that they have their work cut out to catch Mercedes following Fridays running at Yas MarinaDefending champion Hamilton set the pace in second free practice after finishing third to teammate Valtteri Bottas and leader Verstappen in first practice while Verstappen took fourth in the second session That result led the Dutchman to say that things idnt go quite to plan at Yas Marina Circuit on Friday I mean were still learning and understanding a few things but of course clearly the short ru didnt go to plan lacking a bit of pace but the long runs were quite a bit more competitive so of course thats also a bit more important he saidTeam boss Horner added that Mercedes have the edge on this circuit as they are outpacing Red Bull in Sectors 1 and 2 said a report on the Formula1 website They Mercedes look very competitive here certainly in the first two sectors I think Sector 3 we come back at them but the damage is done in the first two sectors Weve still got 24 hours or 23 hours before qualifying to try and find a better setup and a bit more paceWeve got plenty of data weve got some areas of the car we need to tidy up vernight added Horner Its going to be a long evening certainly here back in Milton Keynes trying to tidy up the car I think the longrun pace looked sensible we just need to tidy up the pace for the short runs But the Team Principal explained that changes to the circuit at Turn 5 Turn 9 and in the final sector have possibly changed this race into a twostopper which Red Bull may have anticipated as Verstappen used soft tyres for his race simulation in second free practice said the reportI think its on the cusp of being a twostop race he said I think now with the change to the circuit layout here I think tire wear is going to be a real factor particularly the long lefthander Turn 9 puts a lot of energy into te tyres So its sort of 5050 when you look at it So its going to be fascinating to see which strategy prevails As for their second driver Sergio Perez he reiterated that Red Bull will have to work har and chooe the best bits from a day that saw them trail MerceesI think weve got some work to do overnight We tried very different setups across the cars so I think weve got plenty of information that we have to go into detail through and pick out the best bits said the Mexican Red Bull have a 28point deficit to Mercedes in the constructors championship which on Friday Horneradmitted ould be a long shot for them to clinch this weekend but Verstappen and Hamilton are equal on points at Yas MarinaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever