<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have lost 82 points since Monaco, verstappen entering the final five games of the season by 12 points, and perhaps Mercedes are paying for it. </h1>
Just as Hamilton withstood Ferrari's attack in 2017 and 2018, Verstappen could have essentially single-handedly destroyed the Mercedes camp, seemingly a little closer to the goal of defeating Mercedes this time.
In the first four races of this year, it seems that Mercedes is still in control of the situation on this track, but after the Monaco station, the situation has taken a sharp turn. The 2021 Monaco Grand Prix was not only a turning point for Hamilton, but also a turning point in his career. Since Monaco's disastrous weekend, Liu Hamilton has won just two races: Silverstone and Russia. By contrast, Verstappen has since won seven races, including Monaco.
Here's a recap of each race to date:
French Grand Prix | +7 pts VER v. -7 pts HAM
The main game
Verstappen made mistakes and Hamilton didn't climb the head at Turn 1 after the start and was ahead of Verstappen. [Driver Error - Hamilton]
Red Bull Racing's two-stop pit stop strategy is more suitable. Mercedes opted for a one-stop strategy, which resulted in Verstappen overtaking Hamilton on the track. [Team Error – Mercedes]
Poor strategy allowed Hamilton to lose seven points in a game he was supposed to win.
Styrian Grand Prix | +0 pts VER v. +0 pts HAM
Styrian's circuit will always favor Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen, so for both drivers, the expected results were achieved.
Austrian Grand Prix | +0 pts VER v. -6 pts HAM
Qualifying
Hamilton came in fourth, while Verstappen P1. [Driver Error – Hamilton]
The team's pit stop strategy and tyre management failed, and Hamilton became a victim of tyre degradation. Hamilton could have finished a solid second place but ended up in P4. [Team Error – Mercedes]
British Grand Prix | +6 pts HAM v. +1 pts VER
Sprint race
The result was that Verstappen stole 1 point from Hamilton. [Driver Error - Hamilton]
Corps crashed in Turn 9, Verstappen withdrew and Hamilton netted 25 points. [General Racing Events]
Based on the results of the sprint, Hamilton lost a point, but Hamilton appeared to have scored seven points from the crash, for a total of six. While Verstappen may have lost 25 points as a result, which is similar to his incident in Baku, if it is mainly because he made mistakes himself.
Hungarian Grand Prix | +2 pts VER v. -7 pts HAM
Verstappen's race was trampled on by Bottas' mistake at Turn 1. Despite the heavy damage, Verstappen left Hungary by two points.
Just before the red flag of The No. 1 turn, Lewis was the only driver who couldn't identify the condition of the track within the soft tires. With the exception of Hamilton, every driver entered the station to change dry tires, and Lewis was the only car on the starting grid when the race started. [Team Error - Mercedes]
Hamilton could have easily won the Hungarian race, but lost a net of 7 points due to a team strategy error.
Belgian Grand Prix | +3.5 pts VER v. -5 pts HAM
Hamilton's ability to rain stand was unquestionable, but Spa lost pole position. [Driver Error – Hamilton]
Pole position is the champion, which is collateral damage caused by weather and rules. [Driver Error – Hamilton]
Just like in Hungary, the Mercedes driver could have won again.
Dutch Grand Prix | +0 pts VER v. +0 pts HAM
Both riders were decent and didn't make a mistake.
Italian Grand Prix | -24 pts VER v. -27 pts HAM
Hamilton's devastating start dropped him from second to fifth at the end of lap 1, while Verstappen moved up third to second. [Driver Error – Hamilton]
Verstappen lost to Ricciardo on Turn 1 and was trapped behind him. [Driver Error – Verstappen]
Verstappen made a mistake in changing tires as soon as he stopped, and lost some time. [Team Error – Red Bull]
Hamilton overcut Verstappen through pit stops and may have regained second-place position from Norris, but also suffered a change error. [Team Error – Mercedes]
Hamilton and Verstappen's crash at Turn 1 led to both of them being withdrawn from the DNF. [Driver Error – Hamilton & Verstappen]
Both drivers dominated the win, but both lost. If it weren't for a stop error, Verstappen could have scored 25 points, plus the impact of sprint points, while Hamilton should have finished in second place.
Russian Grand Prix | +12 pts VER v. +0 pts HAM
Question 3: Hamilton and Mercedes missed the window to dry their tyres and were in qualifying P4. [Driver Error – Hamilton]
Question 3: Hamilton hit the wall of the pit stop passage. [Driver Error – Hamilton]
Question 3: Hamilton splinted at the end of the final lap and missed pole position. [Driver Error – Hamilton]
Hamilton lost 3 positions at the start of the race. [Driver Error – Hamilton]
With rain later in the game, Hamilton decisively entered the station to change the half-rain tire. [Wise Decision-Making – Mercedes]
Due to the rain, Verstappen and the team decided to pit stop, causing Verstappen to rise from seventh to second. [Wise Decision-Making - Verstappen and Red Bull]
Verstappen replaced the power unit and achieved the best stop loss.
Mercedes and Lewis are on the verge of forfeiting another obvious victory. Verstappen, meanwhile, finished seventh at the end of the race with a battered tyre trapped at the end.
Turkish Grand Prix | +0 pts VER v. -5 pts HAM
Because the team misjudged, Hamilton could have stayed on the track and held out until the end of the race, turning a possible third to fifth. [ Driver/Team Error – Hamilton & Mercedes]
Verstappen finished second, already the best achievable.
Hamilton and Mercedes were criticised for their poor game strategy, which ended with Hamilton arguing with his engineers on the final lap as points were once again wasted unnecessarily.
American Grand Prix | +0 pts VER v. +0 pts HAM
Verstappen was overtaken by Hamilton on departure. [Driver Error – Verstappen]
Mercedes was defeated by Red Bull, also because of hamilton's pit stop strategy. [Team Error – Mercedes]
While many consider Mercedes to see Austin's pole position as a possession, the reality is that aside from FP1, Mercedes has never closed the gap with Red Bull racing all weekend.
Years of domination may also be one factor, as Mercedes has shown hesitation in taking any level of risk.
Meanwhile, Red Bull took a huge risk to beat Hamilton and Verstappen paid off with a great victory. The result of the match was too close to judge the loss of points due to mistakes.
In the following 13 races starting with Monaco, a series of errors by Hamilton and Mercedes brought the Briton's losses to 82 points. This number is disastrous. This is a true testament to the ability of Red Bull Racing and Verstappen to beat their opponents this year. What's missing in the figures is verstappen's loss in a variety of events that are largely uncontrollable, seemingly completely ignoring the 50 points he missed at Silverstone and Baku. He also scored at least 16 points in Hungary. Red Bull and Verstappen lost a total of 66 points without compulsion.