Hakkinen: Ferrari “now behind” Red Bull in competitiveness

This season looked to be a promising one for Ferrari after the display they gave during winter testing.
 
But the results have not gone their way with Mercedes dominating from the get-go, but a recent surge of form from Red Bull has posed another challenge.
 
Max Verstappen has won two of the past four races in Austria and Germany as well as qualifying on pole in Hungary.
 
Hakkinen now believes that Red Bull have better competitiveness than Ferrari despite the Scuderia leading them in the constructors championship.
 
The Finn said in  his Unibet column: “Although Sebastian Vettel finished third, Ferrari was not in the same race in Hungary.
 
“They should be back in contention in Spa and Monza, where their straight-line speed will matter, but it is clear that their car is just not competitive from race to race.

“Not only have they been unable to beat Mercedes they are now behind the Red Bull Honda package in terms of competitiveness.”
 
But Hakkinen does expect a comeback from Ferrari at Spa and Monza after the summer break where their cars may suit the tracks better.

“Formula 1 now heads into a one-month break before the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa, and this includes a two-week shut down for the factories,” he added.

“The second part of this year’s World Championship should be quite different from the first.

“I expect Ferrari to be pushing really hard for a win in Spa and Monza, but Red Bull and Honda will also be continuing to develop their car and Mercedes cannot take their domination for granted any longer.

“We have just had four really exciting Formula One races and I fully expect we have many more to look forward to before Championship ends in Abu Dhabi on December 1st.”