F1 pundit explains how Red Bull's dominance compares to what Mercedes had in the Turbo hybrid era

F1 pundit Ben Anderson recently compared Red Bull and Mercedes' dominant eras and the areas they both were strong in during their peaks. Mercedes has been one of the most successful teams in the hybrid era and has dominated the sport from 2013 to 2020. Now, Red Bull is currently at the helm of the sport and has somewhat started its dominant era with Max Verstappen.

Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, Anderson started off by comparing driver lineups and intra-team rivalries. He mentioned how Red Bull does not have a lot to worry about in that regard since Sergio Perez is nowhere near Max Verstappen. On the other hand, Mercedes had to manage Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for a few years, which was quite intense for them. He said:

"I think it's slightly different in the sense that...and this mainly focused on Perez because he's not really anywhere close to Vestappen's level, certainly on not enough of a range of circuits to be a factor in the title race when they're dominant like they are this year. It's less pressure on the team, you know they're not having to manage the kind of dynamic that Hamilton and Rosberg created at Mercedes. They're not two drivers who've been colliding with each other."

Furthermore, he spoke about how Red Bull has been more stable in terms of reliability and how Mercedes struggled more during the early stages of the hybrid era.

"Red Bull just aren't having the same reliability problems that Mercedes still had in the early part of the hybrid area. Yes, they had a huge engine advantage, but they still had random failures. Overall, they're much more solid than the cars were at the start of the hybrid era."

Lastly, Anderson touched on the strategies and how the Austrian-British team has been slightly better than Mercedes in terms of making the right calls during tense situations.

"I think execution-wise, Red Bull have always been a very strong team thinking on their feet strategically, they were very good at putting Mercedes under pressure. I think Mercedes were relatively weak in that regard and would often get hamstrung by the teams behind them. Strategically, Red Bull doesn't suffer from that."

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Christian Horner reckons Red Bull rivals will close the gap faster in the second half of the 2023 F1 season

Christian Horner recently shed some light on how his team is already focusing on developing their 2024 car. Due to this split focus, he feels that other rival teams could close the gap much more quickly in the second half of the 2023 F1 season, especially after the summer break. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, he said:

“The next races? For us there is already a lot of work aimed at next year, because we have very little time to use in the wind tunnel. So maybe you will see the other teams getting a bit closer in the second part of the season, because we don't have as much time to devote to development."

The Austrian-British team is currently leading the constructors' championship with 411 points.