There are only three races left in the F1 season.
While many things have remained the same since 2024, with Red Bull leading the constructors’ championship and Max Verstappen leading the drivers’ standings, recent events have shaken up the field a bit. Mercedes is struggling, McLaren is doing well and Ferrari is steadily closing the gap on Red Bull.
And a fascinating battle has begun in the midfield, with Visa Cash App RB F1 Team currently in the lead thanks to Yuki Tsunoda’s strong drive at the Australian Grand Prix.
With so much at stake and a short break until the Japanese Grand Prix, now is a good time to take stock of where each team is at the moment. But rather than a simple review, we’ll take a look at the biggest issues facing each team right now.
So far, most of the questions have been about the negative aspects of bookkeeping. Last week, we looked at Alpine and asked how quickly a team in desperate need of progress could make progress. He also asked if Sauber could solve the pitstop problems that have plagued them in the first three races of the season.
We wonder whether Williams will face a hangover after everything they went through in Australia, whether Haas have really eliminated their biggest gremlin from last season, and, yes, how hot the seats really are under Daniel Ricciardo. I asked.
The series then continued on Thursday with a focus on Aston Martin. This was followed by a discussion of Mercedes, the power unit supplier. It’s certainly early, but is it already too late for the Silver Arrows? The weekend ended with a look at McLaren and Ferrari.
Now, let’s all chase the team.
Red Bull: Are they really vulnerable now?
It’s true that one race doesn’t define a season. Max Verstappen’s brake duct failure and subsequent DNF at the Australian Grand Prix was just one race in a very long season. After all, that race may be just a blip on the radar, a one-off in another dominant season for Red Bull and Verstappen.
However, there are signs that this area could turn in their favor. Certainly Ferrari and McLaren have made progress since last season, with McLaren in particular picking up where they left off at the end of the 2023 campaign.
If that happens, teams like Ferrari could put pressure on the Bulls when it comes to the constructors’ championship. Despite suffering a DNF in Australia, Verstappen heads into the Japanese Grand Prix at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, but it looks like Verstappen will still be the driver as April begins, with the rest of the field Players need to follow.
However, with the Bulls gaining momentum, it may be unthinkable for Red Bull to run wild like we saw before the season. Ferrari’s chasing pack appears to have closed the gap, with both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc getting off to a strong start this year, with both drivers taking two podiums, with Sainz leading the charge. It was his first win outside of Red Bull. Just like before the season, the Scuderia look ready to keep up the pressure this year.
And then everything else.
As the 2023 F1 season draws to a close, there have been rumors of a power struggle at the top between Christian Horner and Dr. Helmut Marko. These were largely ignored, and the idea that Marko was shown the door when he signed a new contract was dismissed as well, but recent events have brought those rumors to the forefront again.
What happened to those events? An investigation into alleged “inappropriate conduct” by Horner involving female members of the team. Those allegations were referred to an outside lawyer, who dismissed the charges against Horner, but the matter was referred to the sport’s governing body.
He also touched on new speculation about the team’s future. When reports emerged that Marko may also be under threat as a result of the investigation, Verstappen made it clear where his loyalties lie.
Not with his team, but with the senior advisors who helped him make the discovery.
There was also outspoken criticism of Horner by the driver’s father, Jos Verstappen. The elder Verstappen slammed Horner in an interview. daily mail at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. “There is tension here while he remains in that position.” old Verstappen said. “The team is on the verge of collapse. We can’t keep going like this. It’s going to explode. He’s playing the victim when he’s the one causing the problem.”
These comments, as well as the Marko rumors, led to speculation about the young Verstappen’s future with the team. Verstappen’s Red Bull contract reportedly includes release clauses in the event that certain members of the team leave, including Marko, and of course the soon-to-be vacant Mercedes seat currently occupied by Lewis Hamilton. Add news and you have a simmering cauldron of speculation.
And in recent days there have been reports that Aston Martin has made a lucrative offer for Adrian Newey, perhaps the greatest engineer in F1 history, giving yet another reason to question Red Bull’s future.
Again, one DNF doesn’t define a season. And these dizzying rumors may help fill the void in a season that, at least after the first two races, looked like another runaway Red Bull.
But all empires inevitably fall. This is a phenomenon we’ve seen before in the sport, most recently when Mercedes’ dominance came to an end at the hands of Red Bull. Given everything Red Bull are currently facing off track, and everything the grid is working on on track to catch them, is it really possible that Red Bull could be forced into the constructors’ place? Or?
Time will tell. But as the Japanese Grand Prix approaches, it seems like the door has opened, if only for a moment.
