"Front-to-back" changes to help Red Bull close Mercedes gap

Red Bull driver Alex Albon believes the "front-to-back" improvements made by the team to this year's car will help close the gap to Mercedes over the remainder of the season.

Mercedes' dominance has been such this year that it has secured pole position at all 11 races and won nine grands prix, with only Max Verstappen's 70th Anniversary GP triumph and Pierre Gasly's stunning success in Italy the anomalies.

With Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas regularly gapping themselves to the rest of the pack, Red Bull has pursued continual development, in particular ahead of next season when the regulations remain relatively unaltered.

While revealing the developments to be widespread, Albon did concede the lack of running on Friday ahead of the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring due to both sessions being fogged off hampered the team's data harvesting.

When asked which areas had been improved to battle Mercedes, Albon responded: "I think it’s the whole car, really, it’s all bits and pieces front-to-back.

"To be honest, we can’t compare it to the previous package just because [we were] without the Friday running. Normally, the plan would be to run the cars on the old package versus the new package.

"But it felt quick, and it felt pretty strong straightaway. I was happy with it, and I think it’s a good step forward. It’s put us a lot closer, obviously, to Mercedes."

Due to what unfolded at the Nürburgring it effectively turned the event into a two-day weekend, as will occur with the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola.

For Albon, it reminded him of his junior formula days. He said: "It wasn't too bad.

"If you think about it, especially for the F2 and F3 drivers, this is more or less what we do. It’s not anything too different.

"It just means you have to be on it a bit quicker in the session and you can’t really take your time. But it felt good, I quite like it. I’m looking forward to Imola if it’s the same thing."

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