Lando Norris isn’t the only challenge Max Verstappen faces at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He also has to deal with his own car, which he has described as a “monster.”
Verstappen must master his car to keep Norris at bay and protect his Formula 1 title, especially as Red Bull’s long period of dominance seems to be ending. Red Bull and Verstappen haven’t won any of the last six races before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.
McLaren is now backing Norris over his teammate Oscar Piastri, but Norris will likely need Verstappen or Red Bull to make significant mistakes to close the 62-point gap in the remaining eight races of 2024.
The situation is tighter in the constructor’s standings, with McLaren just eight points behind Red Bull, so the lead could shift in Azerbaijan on Sunday.
“There’s everything to play for,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner on Friday. “It only takes a couple of bad weekends and big weekends from Lando, and suddenly it’s an awful lot closer.”
New competitors are rising, benefiting from Red Bull’s expertise.
The move of Red Bull’s car design expert Adrian Newey to Aston Martin shows the long-term goals of a team supported by billionaire Lawrence Stroll.
Fernando Alonso has called them “the team of the future,” and Aston Martin is aiming to design a car that will take advantage of the new F1 rules set for 2026, similar to how Newey designed Red Bull’s car in 2022. Aston Martin has even hinted it might be interested in signing Verstappen, who is currently under contract with Red Bull until 2028.
Another important person at Red Bull, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, will be leaving at the end of the season to lead the new Audi works team, which will join F1 in 2026.
For now, Red Bull’s car, which was once very successful, doesn’t have much room for improvement. McLaren and Mercedes appear to have more adaptable and stable designs.
Verstappen was very pleased with the car after winning the Chinese Grand Prix in April, his fourth win in five races at the start of the season. However, each upgrade to the car seems to have made it less stable and increased tire wear.
“We basically went from a very dominant car to an undriveable car in the space of, what, six to eight months?” he said in Italy.
