Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Red Bull and Max Verstappen's current supremacy is making its competitors look like "a field of r Formula 2 cars".
There was no challenging Red Bull's unwavering dominance in the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Verstappen conquering a seventh consecutive win following an easy Sunday drive.
The triumph was also the Milton Keynes-based outfit's twelfth consecutive victory in F1, an achievement that broke an eleven-race winning streak and 35-year-old record held by McLaren since 1988!
Wolff took his hat off to Red Bull's crushing success but ensured that it would not go unchecked.
"It is a meritocracy," the Mercedes boss told Sky F1. "We are going to fight back and win races and championships but today you've seen the pace that Max had, and you saw it already on the long runs on Friday.
"That is where they are. It is like a field of Formula 2 cars against a Formula 1 [car]. They've done the best job. Within the regulations, they've done the best job."
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Lewis Hamilton's hopes of battling Verstappen were over as soon as the first corner where the Briton was overhauled by the Dutchman after a poor start, but also by the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Hamilton went on to finish fourth while a spirited drive by teammate George Russell, who started a lowly 18th following his botched qualifying on Saturday, landed him sixth at the checkered flag.
Asked where Hamilton's stunning qualifying pace had gone, Wolff suggested that the seven-time world champion owed his remarkable performance in the shootout mostly to his own talent rather than to his car.
"I think clearly yesterday was a mega Lewis lap," said Wolff. "We screwed it up with George in qualifying.
"I think we had the second quickest car today, if you look at the lap time profile and also where George came from. But we just didn't monetise on it.
"But having said that, you see where Verstappen is doing his laps and that needs to be the target and that is far off at the moment."
Wolff also pointed to Hamilton's poor start and to a lack of tyre preparation in the Mercedes camp as factors that impacted the Briton's pace.
"The start certainly played a role but you know that can happen," he said.
"Maybe we also brought the tyres in very carefully, maybe too carefully, and you can see the lap time difference towards the end.
"I think we reeled in 15 seconds, and we were missing 1.9s or so to Perez and just four seconds to Lando, or less, and I think we had that."
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