Valtteri Bottas expects "close" Red Bull-Mercedes fight in Baku

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Bottas expects "close" Red Bull-Mercedes fight in Baku

Mercedes will aim to bounce back after a disappointing Monaco weekend last time out

Ewan Gale

Thursday 3 June 2021 05:00

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Valtteri Bottas is expecting Mercedes to be back fighting Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after the team's difficult Monaco weekend.

Red Bull took the lead in the constructors' championship after outscoring Mercedes 37 points to seven in the Principality with Bottas retiring following a bizarre wheel nut issue whilst Lewis Hamilton struggled for pace and finished seventh.

The Baku City Circuit layout is a far cry from the twisting streets of Monaco, despite it also being a street circuit, and it is one where Mercedes has historically performed well.

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Bottas, who finds himself 58 points adrift of Max Verstappen in the race for the drivers' title, said: "I think the next race is different to [Monaco].

"[It was] a really unique track and we always knew it would not be the strongest track for our car.

"I think Baku might be hopefully better but [Red Bull] have a strong package. They have shown it in every race weekend both in qualifying and the race. No doubt, it is going to be close and I hope for a better performance in Baku."

Mercedes cautious on protest over flexi-wings

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend will begin under the looming cloud of a potential protest from Mercedes over the use of flexi-wings by Red Bull which the team says could provide an advantage of up to six-tenths of a second at Baku.

Toto Wolff warned Mercedes could even launch legal action over the components and suggested the weekend could get "messy".

However, outgoing technical director James Allison insisted no decision would be made until track running had begun.

“I’m keeping an open mind," he added. "I guess we’ll look and see what we will see and figure out what to do when we see that. It certainly is a track where they are particularly effective.”