McLaren’s Lando Norris celebrates on the podium after winning the Singapore Grand Prix alongside second placed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and third placed teammate Oscar Piastri. — Reuters
FORMULA One has, to the surprise of many, an engrossing championship battle in 2024, with four teams having a strong year.
It appeared unlikely when reigning three-time champion Max Verstappen dominated four of the opening five events, continuing his dominance in 2023, when he won 19 of 22 races.
But Verstappen has not won a Grand Prix since Spain in June, a run of seven Grands Prix, and his and Red Bull’s title prospects are under serious threat.
“Last year we had a great car, which was the most dominant car ever, and we basically turned it into a monster, so we have to turn it around,” Verstappen said after the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month, in which he finished sixth.
Red Bull’s car, the RB20, has had balance problems, meaning there is often a disconnect between the front and rear of the car. That creates inconsistency and leads to other consequences, such as oversteer and worse tyre degradation.
Verstappen has been direct about Red Bull’s weaknesses for months, frustrated on occasion amid hints he felt some on the team were not tackling the problems with sufficient zeal.
Verstappen drives past as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crashes during the qualifying session in Singapore on Sept 21. — AP
“It’s up to the team to come with lot of changes with the car because we basically went from a very dominant car to an undrivable car in the space of, what, six to eight months?” Verstappen said this month, adding that the car is “bad everywhere,” at all types of circuits and conditions.
It has been a problem for several months, even notable at some events in 2023, when Red Bull were cantering to victories. The RB20’s predicament has been exacerbated by new upgrades not delivering the performance gains expected.
Of greater concern is the on-track performance not replicating the data from the wind tunnel. It means Red Bull have to diagnose the problem before applying a remedy, and this all takes time.
“I think if you dig into it there were some of these issues early in the year, even when we were winning races by 20 seconds,” Christian Horner, the team principal, said.
“I think that recent upgrades, whilst it put load on the car, it’s disconnected the front and rear, and we can see that; our wind tunnel doesn’t say that, but the track says that, so it’s getting on top of that, because, obviously, when you have that it means you can’t trust your tools.”
Horner agreed with Verstappen that “both championships absolutely will be under pressure.”
He said the impending departure of design chief Adrian Newey, the architect of Red Bull’s title-winning cars, was not the cause of the problems.
“I think we would have had all of these issues because the issues were already there, and one man’s input could never be so dramatic so quickly,” Horner said.
Red Bull have held a performance advantage since Formula One introduced new technical regulations in 2022, but now the front-running teams have converged and the development curve is flattening.
“It’s like you’re scraping around the bottom of the jar for the last bit of lap time, you’ve got the knife in there around all four corners and not much comes out,” said Rob Marshall, the chief designer of McLaren, which he joined in January after leaving Red Bull.
While Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes have introduced some new components that have misfired, McLaren’s upgrade packages have delivered the anticipated gains.
McLaren have consequently been able to fight for victories at most races, winning four times. They have a young team unaccustomed to operating at the front.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton steers during the race where he finished sixth. — AP
Their drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, have recorded maiden victories in 2024, but they have stumbled on occasion, and McLaren have been reluctant to favour one driver.
Norris is the stronger option, 52 points behind Verstappen, while Piastri is 94 points behind.
“I think both drivers are mathematically in condition to do so,” Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, said at the Italian Grand Prix of the drivers’ title.
“But Lando is obviously in the best position from a numbers point of view. We are fighting Max Verstappen, so I think if we want to give support to one driver we certainly have to pick the one who is in the best position.”
The team realise that they can win their first constructors’ title since 1998, having eradicated a deficit to Red Bull that peaked at 115 points after the Miami Grand Prix in May. The drivers’ championship is also in reach.
“It now looks like the drivers’ championship is definitely a possibility,” Stella said.
“We were a little cautious, even before Monza, but now we can see that McLaren can compete at circuits where last year we were not competitive. So I think it is a very competitive package overall and this could be a very important weapon for Lando in particular in the quest for the championship.”
Ferrari and Mercedes have also had triumphant moments, with Ferrari rebounding from a mid-season dip and Mercedes re-emerging from the doldrums after a poor start, their prospects resurrected by several updates to their car.
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari remain outside contenders for the title, having delivered emotional wins at his home race, Monaco, and Ferrari’s home race, Italy.
Leclerc’s future teammate, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, ended his 2½-year win drought at his home event, the British Grand Prix, contributing to a season unexpectedly rich in high moments and unpredictable outcomes.
“It’s the first time that I think in F1 we have this situation where eight drivers can win the race without an accident or a big crash, that four teams are able to win or to be on the podium, and it’s changing from session to session,” said Frederic Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal.
“I think until the end of the season it will be like this, and it will be a huge fight.” — NYT
