\”Mercedes Return To The Front Will Hinder Ferrari\’s Championship Chances\” Insists Max Verstappen

Red Bull and Max Verstappen are leading both the championships in the 2022 F1 season. Red Bull has a 97-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors. Not just that, the Dutchman is 80 points clear of Charles Leclerc. The Red Bull driver has won the most (8) races, with two-back-to back victories in France and Hungary. Moreover, some recent mistakes from the Scuderia have allowed Verstappen to take a big lead in the championship. And this could likely secure him a second consecutive F1 title at the end of the year. However, there are still nine races to go, and the tides could turn fairly quickly. Moreover, with Mercedes coming back in the mix, Verstappen would be more confident about his chances. 

The Dutchman hoped that Mercedes would keep on stealing points from Ferrari, making it even harder for the Italian outfit to get close to Red Bull. Mercedes have looked quite strong in the last two races, with two consecutive double podiums for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. However, Verstappen felt that Mercedes\’ return to competitiveness might work in favor of his team. The 25-year-old said, \”It\’s good that they are competitive because then they can steal more points off Ferrari. So I\’m very happy that they are doing well.\”

Max Verstappen Insists Red Bull Needs To Stay Cautious

Verstappen suggested that he cannot take the title battle for granted despite having a massive lead. As per Max, Red Bull had a number of issues during the Hungarian weekend, first during qualifying and then in the race. The Dutchman insisted that Red Bull could not have too many days as they had during qualifying in Budapest. There were several issues with the clutch and the upshifts as well during the race. And Max hoped to keep working hard and improving through the course of the season.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also agreed with Max Verstappen about remaining cautious. Horner told that while the lead was healthy, there were still a lot of races to go. The former British driver suggested that his team had some reliability issues during the Hungarian GP with the clutch, which could have easily resulted in a DNF. Christian concluded, \”So, there are some areas that we can still improve on, and there is an awful lot of racing still to do.\” The Belgian GP will restart the 2022 season in Spa after the Summer break on August 28.