Verstappen’s Mini-Crisis: Can Red Bull Overcome the Competition?
Max Verstappen, the Dutch driver, is looking to cut his losses as he enters the final two races of the season. Despite increasing his lead by being high up and ahead of his title rivals, such as Norris, he faces a stiff challenge from Mercedes and McLaren.
Verstappen arrives in Hungary with the same number of points as last year, 255, but without winning as many races or against distant rivals. He still holds the advantage, but the competition is closing in, with four different teams and six different drivers winning a race. Verstappen is aware that the streak can continue at the Hungaroring, and there is more to the World Championship than meets the eye.
Increased Competition
"This year started very competitive for us, and now everyone is catching up," Verstappen said at the Festival of Speed in Goodwood. "Every race is a real battle, so it’s great because I think it will continue for the rest of the season as well. You don’t really know what’s going to happen, and that’s great for the sport."
McLaren and Mercedes on the Rise
Ferrari comes and goes with its ‘evo’ from Spain, but with the heat of Hungary, it is always close, and Aston Martin re-debuts this season with its Plan B in the AMR24. Mercedes and McLaren are pushing hard, with Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, ensuring that they have made progress and Red Bull is not able to do so.
"They may have reached their peak, so for this second half of the season, there will be a lot of victories at stake, whether it’s for Mercedes or McLaren, or even Ferrari," Hill said in the official championship podcast.
The Test of Hungary
"Hungary will be the test of whether we have improved our performance on long runs in hot conditions. Because in Barcelona and Austria, we couldn’t match Norris and Verstappen," explains Mercedes engineering director Andrew Shovlin.
At McLaren, they are going further, with Zak Brown stating, "Although we assume that Max will finish first, second, or third in every race, if we continue to score points like we are now, we will be champions at the end of the year, we are aware of that."