Max Verstappen is the best hope of Red Bull to maintain their hegemony on the grid. Sergio Perez has been inconsistent this year, as usual. Even last year, he had a great start to the season, as he won a couple of races after the first four GPs. But then, since the 2023 Miami GP, the Mexican driver started to lose his consistency. Eventually, Checo did not end up winning any more races in the previous season. On the other hand, the Dutch racer won a record 19 races in 2023. Even in 2024, Checo had a good start as his worst critic, the team advisor, Helmut Marko, mentioned, “Checo’s been consistent.”
But then, halfway through the first half of the season, Perez lost his consistency yet again. Moreover, RB20 is not looking like the most superior car in the grid right now unlike what RB19 was last year. Even then, Max Verstappen managed to win seven races already in the ongoing season. Currently, the F1 teams are enjoying the summer break. As of now, F1 rivals of Red Bull are showing pretty good progress with their driver’s lineup and improving cars. Lately, Verstappen mentioned that their rivals are ahead of them.
Why Max Verstappen Thinks The Rivals Are Ahead Of Them?
Teams like Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari do not have a huge gap between their respective drivers. Since Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are both doing well with the improving W15 car, the Silver Arrows have started to hope for a great season. However, the team that has the best chance to beat the Austrian outfit this year is McLaren. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have won a race each this year. The driver’s lineups of Mercedes and McLaren are helping them to close in the gap with Red Bull. On the other hand, due to the inconsistent Checo, the onus is again on Max Verstappen to get the wins and vital points for the team. In the last four races, the reigning champions have not won a single GP. Now, the gap between McLaren and Red Bull is of 42 points.
Lately, Max Verstappen told Sky Sports F1 that the rivals are ahead of them. He said, “Sometimes McLaren, again, sometimes Mercedes.” In Spa, Max thinks they were faster than the Prancing Horse, but as they came from P11, they didn’t have enough time to pass them. He added that the team knows that they have work to do. Moreover, the reigning champion mentioned that they can’t possibly find satisfaction with their latest performance. However, he said that they know they want to do better. But sometimes when every team does a great job, Max feels, “You then need to take your hats off for that too.”
The Dutchman Knew Red Bull Won’t Have Another Superior Car Like RB19
Lately, in an interview with Formula.hu, Max Verstappen mentioned, “Honestly, the current situation has been tough” for them. He said when the team was enjoying dominance with RB19 winning 21 of 22 races last year, he had a feeling that its too good to happen again next year. Not every year, they can have such a competitive car. But the Dutch racer believes that’s what makes this season so exciting. He would sure like a bit more advantage with a superior car as that would make his life as well as the team’s life easier.
But the reigning three-time champion is trying to look at the bright side. Thanks to his dominance at the early stage of the ongoing season, he still has a strong lead of 78 points over McLaren’s Lando Norris in the Driver’s standing. But the second half of the season will prove which team has the best car overall.
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