"Probably Mercedes are in slightly better position": F1 pundit on the team that is best placed to challenge Red Bull in the future

F1 pundit Ben Anderson mentioned that Mercedes are probably the best-placed team to challenge Red Bull's dominance in the future.

The German team have shown glimpses of their true performance this season until now I have looked the closest in terms of consistent performance from both drivers. The former world champions Also went through a philosophy change couple of races into the season in their bid to close down the gap to Red Bull.

While appearing on The Race podcast, Anderson said:

"I think if you break them down and look at which team potentially has the best chance to minimise those weaknesses and perhaps as the best spread to performance across the tracks on average so far, I think Mercedes are in slightly better position than everyone else. The concept shift, they've kind of got that underway now. They've made one big step in that direction finally, they were slow to do it but they have done it now."

He added:

"And you would expect that this winter or the second half of this year when they start switching their focus to next season, really making the most of that if they've understood Everything, if and it's a big if, their simulations are corrected so that they don't leave themselves the wrong garden path again."

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Former Red Bull driver weighs on the dominance of his former team

Mark Webber credited Red Bull's current dominance in F1 to their technical director Adrian Newey and claimed that this season would've been closer if he wasn't around.

Speaking to ITV, the former Red Bull driver said:

“I think it’s a problem. When you put Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey together, we have an issue. Adrian Newey [has] over 200 grand prix victories now as a designer. Adrian has a few more years, by all accounts, he said he is starting to go towards the end [of his career]. If Adrian wasn’t here, the Championship would be quite tight.”

But F1 CTO Pat Symonds mentioned that he won't barge in between to stop Red Bull's progress and added:

"F1 is a meritocracy and the best people must win. People try to liken it to football - one of the great things is that the best team at the end of the season wins the league, but along the way, they have lost some matches. I'd love it if F1 was like that. We will never make it artificial but I would like it if we could get other people winning races."

It will be interesting to see if anyone can really challenge the Austrian team until the new regulations are set in 2026.