Currently, Red Bull and McLaren look like the best of the F1 teams fighting for the title. Mercedes is slowly catching up as they won the last two races. On the other hand, Ferrari has seen a dip in their performance in the last few races. Anyway, Max Verstappen is still enjoying a healthy lead over other racers. He has won way too many races already. However, in the last few races, the season has just got a bit more interesting. In 2023, there was just one race where Red Bull did not win. It was the Singaporean Grand Prix, where Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. surprised everybody with a win.
He was the only non-Red Bull racer to win a race last year. Otherwise, Max and Sergio Perez had the upper hand throughout the season. However, Checo won only a couple of races in 2023. On the other hand, Verstappen won a record 19 GPs in the previous season. But this year, McLaren’s Lando Norris, both drivers of Ferrari and Mercedes, too, have won a race each. Lately, McLaren CEO warned Red Bull of a major factor that can cause their downfall.
Zak Brown Predicts That Red Bull Will Feel The Adverse Effect Of Their Internal Turmoil
Early in 2024, a female employee accused Christian Horner of “Inappropriate behaviour.” If that was shocking, then, Verstappen Senior, Jos, made an outburst in the media, saying, “Horner will cause the team to tear itself apart.” Later, Max Verstappen talked about the incident, saying, “My father is not a liar,” and he also added that he is loyal to Helmut Marko. Hence, for any reason if Red Bull fires the 81-year-old F1 consultant, there’s a good possibility that Max will leave the team, too. Later, an internal investigation freed Horner of any wrongdoing. Recently, Zak Brown told the media, including motorsport.com that in the longer term, the Austrian outfit will feel the impact.
The McLaren CEO was one of the first in the paddock who asked for transparency regarding the investigation of the Red Bull boss. Brown believes “Winning holds things together.” When that becomes more of a challenge for Red Bull, it will start seeing some fractures in various relationships, feels the McLaren team principal. Moreover, Zak Brown added that the turmoil might have an impact in the mid to longer term. Things will turn blue when the Milton Keynes outfit starts feeling the absence of Adrian Newey.
McLaren Boss Says Newey’s Absence Will Change Things In Horner’s Team
Adrian Newey has been part of the Austrian outfit since its inception. He has been the mastermind behind the superior Red Bull cars over the years. Somewhere around the middle of the ongoing season, the design chief announced his departure. He will join Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton next year. McLaren boss thinks the current Red Bull car was made in 2023. Currently, the RB20 car that they are racing is “Done when everything was fine,” believes Brown.
When in 2026, the Austrian team will have new engines, then things might change in the driver’s front, and that’s when Zak Brown, says that Red Bull might find a lack of stability. He added that the problem with stability appears to be there. But it will start coming through a lot more gradually, the McLaren CEO predicts.
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