Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix was a race of damage limitation for Max Verstappen.
After Lando Norris was passed by Verstappen at the end of lap 17 on Sunday, the Red Bull driver knew he had to run his own race. In his words:‘s goal was to finish second, and Verstappen did just that, finishing 22 seconds behind Norris which was certainly eye-catching, but despite the McLaren driver setting the fastest lap on the final lap of the race on worn hard tyres and earning a bonus point, Verstappen and Norris’ Drivers’ Championship lead was only reduced by eight points, from 78 to 70.
With nine race weekends remaining, Norris still faces a big task to close the gap: if he wins the remaining nine Grands Prix and the three F1 sprint races, he will gain 249 points, bringing his season total to 474.
Given the depth of the F1 field this year, winning the season seems impossible, but for the sake of argument, let’s assume he manages to do it.
Verstappen currently has 195 points and if he finishes second to Norris in both the Grand Prix and the F1 sprint race he will receive an extra 183 points, taking his season total to 478.
Still, he has a four-point lead over Norris.
In this world where Norris and Verstappen finish one-two in the remaining races, Norris still needs to earn bonus points for fastest laps each week – five to be exact, to overcome the hypothetical four-point gap to Verstappen outlined above. This is assuming Verstappen doesn’t get the bonus points, but in this world, you have to imagine Red Bull will do anything to snatch them away, with the simple objective of forcing Sergio Pérez onto soft tyres in the closing stages of the race.
The Constructors’ Championship, however, is a different story.
After Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, McLaren has closed the gap to Red Bull to just 30 points, and from this graph Formula 1 Points It shows how the Woking-based operation has slowly closed the gap on leaders Red Bull.
McLaren has nine race weekends remaining to close the gap.
As McLaren departed Miami following Norris’ first F1 victory, they had 124 points for the season, 115 behind Red Bull.
In the nine race weekends since then, McLaren has outscored Red Bull 280 to 195. Overcoming the current 30-point deficit is no more difficult a task than Norris beating Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.
Still, just hours after the Dutch Grand Prix, Red Bull continues to sound the warning bells about both races. talk Motorsports After Sunday’s race, Red Bull executive Dr Helmut Marko noted that the team faces a challenge from Norris and McLaren in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
“So, as Max said before the summer break, the team has to work harder and find areas to improve, otherwise his championship is at risk.”
When asked to clarify which championships he was referring to, Marko replied: “Both, both, both.”
Asked about Marko’s comments at the FIA press conference on Sunday, Verstappen reiterated his caution.
“I think this weekend was a bad weekend overall, so we need to understand that, but the last few races haven’t really been great.” Verstappen said:“So, I think in a way it was already a bit worrying. But I know there’s no need to panic. We’re just trying to improve the situation. And that’s what we’re working on. But F1 is very complicated.”
The Red Bull driver then outlined the issues he is having with the RB20.
“From FP1 to the race, it was pretty much the same balance, which means the limitations are the same. So it’s very difficult to work out at the moment. Yes, it seems like we’re too late, but [tire degradation] “At the moment,” Verstappen explained, “it’s a bit strange because I think in the last few years we’ve usually done pretty well in that respect. So something has been wrong with the car recently and we need to understand that and, of course, try to improve it immediately.”
While the calendar may offer some reassurance – the next two races are at Monza and Azerbaijan, circuits where Red Bull dominated the front row in 2023 – 2024 is a different season and Verstappen seemed unsure whether that would change by the time of the Italian Grand Prix.
“I don’t know, we need to work out the balance issue, and I think that would already help a lot. [tire degradation]”Of course a lot of things are new at Monza,” Verstappen said, “from the tarmac, the kerbs to the layout of turns one and two. So we need to understand that a bit more.”
“But certainly, we know we have a lot of work to do.”
