Although Red Bull’s dominance appears to be coming to an end, Max Verstappen believes this is only the impetus for even harder attacks.
Red Bull went into the summer break without a win in their last four races, the longest winless streak for the Milton Keynes-based team since 2020. With McLaren and Mercedes gaining momentum, the dominance of last year’s RB19 is a distant memory.
Max Verstappen: It is clear that we have difficulties everywhere
While Verstappen’s driving keeps Red Bull in the championship fight, with McLaren’s MCL38 now looking to be the most versatile and perhaps fastest car on the grid in 2024, the situation is in stark contrast to last season and even the early stages of this year.
After the first few races, Verstappen had a big lead with the RB20 when it was first put on the grid, but thanks to upgrades, Mercedes and McLaren are now competitive at a level that even leaves Red Bull behind – especially over race distance.
With the team’s dominance coming to an end, the pressure on Verstappen will continue to mount in the second half of the championship. His aim is to take home the title against drivers equipped with seemingly faster cars. The Dutch driver admitted he is unlikely to have many easy weekends for the rest of the year.
“At the beginning we could really say that it was track-specific, but I think now it is clear that no matter which track we go to, we have difficulties everywhere,” he told the Hungarian publication Formula.hu.
“I would say that we have not been the fastest in the last few races. Yes, it is a bit more difficult now. The others are doing a good job to improve the performance of the car, but of course we have to point out that we are still leading the constructors’ championship.”
“It’s not that bad, but we have to try to improve the performance of the car so that we can try to fight back and set the pace again.”
Although Red Bull leads the championship, its on-track success has slowly slipped away from it, leaving the world champions in a position to want to continue to improve, said Verstappen, who spoke matter-of-factly about how the fate of the titles now rests in the team’s hands.
“The decline in performance should be as much an incentive as the pursuit of success,” he said.
“Well, you can always say that, but I personally never liked to think that way. Because I believe that when you are the winning team, you have to push even harder, even harder. That should be the mentality, but that’s just how it is.
“The people chasing you are hungry to win and want to beat you. And they have done that well recently, so it’s up to us to respond.”
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While Verstappen’s stunning dominance may have come to an end in 2023, there is still a positive side for the Dutch driver: he can now go back to racing wheel-to-wheel against his rivals instead of sprinting into the distance.
“I really enjoyed last year, but I knew we would never have a season like this again,” he explained.
“I mean, I thought it was unrealistic to be that competitive again, so I was prepared for it. Of course, I was hoping and hoping that we would have a little more of a lead, but that’s the way it is.
“I have been battling quite a lot with other riders on the track recently, but of course I know who has a personal riding style.
“That’s the case in all sports, isn’t it? Not all of them are the same, but that’s just the way it is. I grew up with a lot of drivers and it’s fun to compete with people my age who I know from my karting days.”
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