On paper, everything is fine. Max Verstappen still drives Formula 1. The Dutchman arrives on the grounds of Red Bull, at the Austrian Grand Prix, with 7 victories under his belt in 10 Grand Prix, 69 points ahead in the drivers’ championship and a certain experience on the Red Bull Ring route. Verstappen quite simply holds the record for victories on the Spielberg circuit with 5 successes in the last 8 races.
But in reality, the reigning triple world champion is no longer quite so sovereign. “For the moment, if we win, it’s because we do everything perfectly as a team,” sums up “Super Max”. And he’s not wrong. If he has just won two in a row, it’s partly due to his talent and that of Red Bull, but above all to the clumsiness of his competitors.
“We didn’t have the best car on the grid”
In Canada, George Russell, who started from pole position, missed out with a Mercedes flying over the proceedings that weekend. Rebelote this Sunday in Spain where McLaren went astray in its pit stop strategy with Lando Norris the main victim: “We should have won, we clearly had the best car. »
So yes Max wins, but Max suffers, perhaps as rarely in the last two years. Over the last five Grand Prix, Verstappen has certainly won three times, but never with more than 4 seconds on his runner-up. The fault of an RB20 which is no longer what it was. “It’s clear that we didn’t have the best car on the field,” he said after the Spanish Grand Prix. We suffer a little at the end of each stint on our tires. We need to optimize the car. »
However, the Red Bull single-seater had arrived on the other side of the Pyrenees with a host of new features, intended to restore its former glory. The problem is that the competition has done better. “McLaren is doing a very, very good job. They’ve brought a lot of good updates to their car, and it really seems to be working. On our side, we’ve brought things to the car, but probably not as much as the others,” conceded the Dutchman.
Performances on a qualifying lap are starting to become insufficient. Verstappen has just seen the last three pole positions slip away from him (Norris in Spain, George Russell in Canada, Leclerc in Monaco). Reliability has already failed him in Australia, while the Dutchman is slowly approaching a penalty for a fifth engine change.
McLaren in contact, Mercedes on the lookout
But the Sunday races are successful for the moment, despite a McLaren MCL38 increasingly up to standard. “The two cars are really very close. The race pace was very similar. We want to continue improving the car. I am optimistic for the future,” warned Team Principal of the British team Andrea Stella.
Its leader Lando Norris has been released since his first victory in Miami at the beginning of May, with three second places in the last four Grand Prix, each time giving the Dutchman a cold sweat. All while displaying impressive regularity. The 24-year-old driver is the only one to have finished in the points at all events of the year, and has not finished outside the Top 5 since the second GP of the year. Stats that even Max Verstappen can’t boast of.
But he is not the only one leading the revolt against “Mad Max”. The Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have returned to the forefront. The younger of the two led the last two Grand Prix after the first lap before collapsing while the second is gaining momentum and has just signed his first podium.
“We’re not quite there yet, but we’ve made a big step forward in the last few races. We don’t have the pace to fight with the two riders in front yet, but if we can be more consistent we’ll be in a strong position. We’re catching up with those guys and that’s fantastic,” enthused the seven-time world champion.
Behind, Ferrari has been slipping since Charles Leclerc’s demonstration in Monaco but the Prancing Horse could neigh again in the weeks to come, carried by a pack launched on Verstappen’s heels. A thrilling chase that begins on Saturday, in Austria, with a sprint race on the eve of the Grand Prix.
