Brundle: Red Bull urgently need more power and grip

Verstappen finished second at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, his third P2 result of the season.

However, much like in Portimao, the Dutchman did not quite have enough at his disposal to beat the fearsome combination of Hamilton and Mercedes and take a second win of the year.

Speaking after the race, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted that Mercedes simply had the faster car on the day, while Verstappen said he was a "sitting duck" once Hamilton moved onto the two-stop strategy.

Looking back on the weekend, Brundle highlighted the struggles of Sergio Perez as another thing that needs to change in order for Red Bull and Verstappen to take the fight to the reigning champions.

"With Perez out of the picture some way behind, this allowed Mercedes to roll the dice and assume Lewis would close the now 23-second gap to Verstappen and not be troubled too much when having to pass his own team-mate Bottas along the way," he wrote in his Sky Sports column. "Bottas wasn't all that helpful but such was Hamilton's pace it was a comfortable victory over Verstappen in the end.

"Red Bull simply felt they couldn't risk giving up track position out front, and Mercedes were second and third anyway so had nothing to lose. Verstappen eventually took those soft tyres on lap 60 to seize the fastest lap championship point in consolation.

"On 94 points and with three victories so far in 2021 this is Hamilton's best-ever start to a championship season which is ominous for his rivals. He's on scintillating form and Red Bull urgently need more power and grip for Max, and for Perez to join the battle. Right now, it appears Bottas is more likely to take points from Verstappen on occasions than Perez is from Hamilton, and that could be critical.

"It does appear that the Red Bull is highly tuned to Verstappen's preferences, driving style and formidable car control because Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and now Perez have all relatively floundered. Sergio's head may be wiser and more experienced, but he'll need to lean on every single element of that now to play his essential role and not crumble."