Photo / Don KennedyTwo races into a 23-race championship schedule and it is even-stevens between Mercedes and Red Bull, the latter having emerged as a serious challenger to the seven-time champions Mercedes. Hamilton's recovery drive to second place demonstrated that the Mercedes has similar pace to the Red Bull, if not being slightly quicker. Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin believes the Mercedes car is still slower than the Mercedes even though Hamilton took the extra point for fastest lap at Imola. Irrespective of the pace of the Mercedes versus Red Bull, off track there is another challenge looming for Mercedes. Photo / Don Kennedy"We are delighted to welcome Ben to Red Bull Powertrains as technical director," Red Bull boss Christian Horner said.

Source: New Zealand Herald April 29, 2021 18:22 UTC