Despite what the race results will have everyone believe, Max Verstappen and Red Bull aren’t having the best time on the track. In fact, with the last four qualifying sessions as proof, the RB20 isn’t the fastest car on the grid anymore. It’s becoming increasingly clear McLaren has closed the gap and might’ve just surpassed the reigning champions. Based on this, BBC experts on the latest episode of the F1: Chequered Flag podcast believe the championship battle is still on.
Andrew Benson expressed this opinion after highlighting how Norris could’ve won three of the last five races. However, he missed out because of tiny margins and individual brilliance from Verstappen. Based on this, Benson suggested,
“But he’s now 69 points behind Verstappen. Now, that’s a big gap. But he’s got the fastest car and he could have won three of the last five races. If he could start delivering on his potential Norris can turn this into a fight. If he can just find that 1% that he’s talking about.”
On this, another pundit exclaimed, “Championship is still on, is that where you are going?”
The 24-year-old Brit has already taken over Charles Leclerc in the overall standings, who is also having a brilliant season. If the McLaren man can start securing wins on a more regular basis, he will cut down the lead. With 14 races still to go even a 69-point lead isn’t enough and Norris might be looking at a battle for the title toward the end.
However, the Woking outfit will have to continue building and progressing in this direction. They have to extend their already evident pace advantage in their favor to truly tip the scales, which are already shaky as confessed by Max Verstappen after the Spanish GP win.
Max Verstappen confesses Red Bull needs to increase the pace of the RB20 with the competition all caught up
McLaren’s pace was evident all weekend in Barcelona. In fact, the MCL38 even managed its tires best on the high degradation track. Despite that, just like Canada, the championship leader came away with the win.
However, even though he extended his advantage, the Red Bull man isn’t happy with his car’s pace. He criticized this scenario after the race and admitted the team cannot be reliant on perfect strategy every race weekend.
After the race, he said, “I would like to win, but we need to find more pace because we can’t always rely on the perfect strategy and get everything right at the start. These are things that work here and there, but ultimately you need to be the fastest car on track to keep on winning.”
So, despite a 69-point gap from the runner-up, the championship is still not in the bag for the Dutchman. He’s been put under pressure every race since China. Verstappen clawed wins in the last two races with his individual quality and brilliance. However, how long will this last?
