How was that before the fourth-last Formula 1 race of the season?

Max Verstappen was in the lead with 19 points.

And then Lewis Hamilton, his rival for the world title, had to change the engine before the Grand Prix in Brazil and accept a starting place penalty.

When the rear wing of the Mercedes finally fell out of the norm during the inspection and Hamilton was ultimately only allowed to start from tenth place on the grid, the Dutchman offered a match point.

Forgive. Second in the Red Bull only against every bet behind Hamilton in São Paulo, second two weeks ago in Qatar, again behind the seven-time world champion. Verstappen's lead has shrunk to eight points. And because Formula 1 is circling in Saudi Arabia for the first time this Sunday (6.30 p.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky), there is an alarm mood in the front-runner's team: the brand new Jeddah street circuit is considered a Silver Arrow because of its many full throttle sections. Piste.

Red Bull has been paralyzed for weeks.

The engineers have been puzzling since the beginning of the second half of the season.

Why are the Mercedes so fast on the straights?

There have been all sorts of theories, none of which have seemed very conclusive until now.

Neither the mysterious increase in power through cooling the charge air nor the lowerable rear, nor an allegedly flexible rear wing provided evidence of Hamilton's tremendous acceleration.

Red Bull's head of sport Helmut Marko attributed part of it to the new drive unit, which gave Hamilton's racing car a huge boost: “We have never seen an engine like this from Mercedes.

They managed a masterpiece to conjure up such a rocket. ”But Hamilton wins even without the miracle engine.

It was spared in Qatar.

Mercedes' superiority in the emirate had an entirely different reason.

Even Mercedes chief engineer Andrew Shovlin was amazed: “In the previous races we were on a par with Red Bull in the corners and benefited from our top speed.

In Qatar it was the other way around.

We were equally quick on the straights and won all of our time in the corners. ”Red Bull justified the contradiction with the fact that Mercedes had probably packed its flexible rear wings after word got around that stricter test methods are being used.

Mercedes denies that: "The wings were the same from Friday to Sunday."

"Blackouts" at Red Bull

The world championship team no longer believes that there is a pattern of which type of racetrack suits your own racing car or that of Red Bull: “Our cars are pretty much the same.

It all depends on how well we or Red Bull manage to set up the car.

That can give rashes of up to three tenths of a second per lap. "

Red Bull's most recent “blackout” may also be due to the fact that the engineers were too fixated on what was happening in the garage next door.

The driver and team trip over their own feet.

In Qatar, a certain type of rear wing caused problems for the fourth time in the past four race weekends.

As soon as a part is allowed to be moved in the specified overtaking zones in order to reduce wind resistance, the upper element begins to flutter.

While this is a disadvantage, it is still illegal. Repairs were made three times at the last minute. In Qatar, Red Bull, worried about a protest, switched to a Monaco wing that was unsuitable for the track and unbalanced the car. Verstappen also overlooked a double-waved yellow flag, which threw him five places back on the starting grid. There was no more than second place.

Since the defeat in Mexico, Mercedes has approached the company with a "We have nothing more to lose" attitude towards world championships. And has done everything right so far. So shortly before the end of the game, the title fight has become a matter of the mind. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is still crying after the two races in England and Hungary. “We lost 40 points due to accidents that were not our fault. And Mercedes was given 25 points. "

The pressure is enormous to grasp with hands the longing of Red Bull, Honda and Verstappen to become world champions.

The team last won in 2013, with Sebastian Vettel at the wheel.

Honda's triumph was 30 years ago.

Verstappen is still young at 24, but has long been seen as the first candidate.

He doesn't want to go down in history as the fastest driver of his time without a title.

The challengers added everything that was good and expensive for this all-important success.

Red Bull has been developing the current car longer than any other team and is therefore willing to start the coming season with a small handicap.

Honda built a completely new engine in nine months.

Verstappen has grown into a complete racing driver.

Only in a duel does he remain a hothead.

Team bosses Toto Wolff and Horner agree on one point, despite all their differences: "Whoever becomes world champion deserves it." On Thursday, Verstappen did not let it be known that he was now plagued by doubts, on the contrary.

Before the penultimate Grand Prix he thinks he has a small psychological advantage on his side.

Only he can become world champion in Saudi Arabia.