Red Bull Racing seemed to be the favorites for the title at the start of the 2024 season. However, things have changed drastically in the past few months. Max Verstappen has managed to hold on to his championship lead.
While Milton Keynes could even fall to third place. The reigning world champions lost the Constructors’ lead to McLaren after the Azerbaijan GP. This was a major blow to Red Bull and highlighted Sergio Perez‘s underwhelming results.
Now, Ferrari seems to be the next team chasing the Austrian giant. After Ferrari’s impressive 1-2 finish in Austin, the Scuderia trails behind Max Verstappen‘s team by mere 8 points. With five races to go in the 2024 season, Red Bull will find it difficult to hold on to the runner-up spot in the standings.
RELATEDThe odd timing of F1’s ban on fastest lap pointMax Verstappen a ‘lone wolf’ in battle of pairsMax Verstappen has performed consistently throughout the course of this year. It is thus no surprise that despite not winning a Grand Prix since June this year, the Dutch driver leads Lando Norris by 57 points. On the other hand, Sergio Perez has failed to live up to expectations.
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen (via RaceFans)Perez has been nowhere near the fight at the front of the grid. Whereas, McLaren and Ferrari have had both cars closely matched at almost every race. Even Red Bull boss Christian Horner pointed this out to the media recently, claiming that rival teams were hunting in pairs.
Sergio Perez will unlikely improve in the remainder of the season. The Mexican driver simply lacks the pace to match Verstappen or rivals up front. Subsequently, if Checo continues this poor run, nothing can stop Red Bull from falling down to third place by the next race.
Certainly, Red Bull has lost hopes of defending the teams’ title this year. However, losing second place would be nothing short of a disaster for Milton Keynes. Such a result would not only signify Perez’s inconsistency but even the poor performance of the RB20.
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