With Mercedes having won two consecutive races in the last two Grand Prix, the problems for Red Bull seem to increase as the Milton Keynes-based outfit are facing more competition in 2024 than they have ever faced in the recent ground effects era. After watching Lewis Hamilton win at Silverstone, former world champion Damon Hill believes Mercedes will register more victories in 2024.
“They have made gains and Red Bull is not able to make gains,” said Hill as per GPBlog. “They may have hit the ceiling, and so for this last half of this season, I think there’s going to be a lot of victories out there on the table for the taking either by Mercedes or McLaren, or even Ferrari.”
Over the last two years, Red Bull had dominated the field comfortably. For the majority of the mentioned time, Red Bull was easily the fastest. However, that is not the case anymore.
Now, McLaren and Mercedes seem to be at par and even faster at times. Ferrari, who initially challenged Red Bull, seems to be struggling at the moment. However, they too are expected to end their lean patch sooner rather than later.
‼️Sir Lewis Hamilton asked “…why are you leaving to ferrari now that mercedes is kinda going up?”
“i think leaving when the chips are down would be the worst feeling for me, but leaving when the chips are up or on their way up and i’ve been a part of helping progress this car… pic.twitter.com/yIjGc4QBHd
— sim (@sim3744) July 15, 2024
Moreover, in the current scheme of things, Max Verstappen seem to be the biggest differential for Red Bull. In Imola and Barcelona, his race skills were evident in registering wins for Red Bull. Moreover, it seems that the increased competition may, in fact, be helping Verstappen at the front.
Mercedes’ rise seemingly helping Verstappen
With four teams now contesting for the wins, it’s difficult to predict races. Moreover, there is an added likelihood of any driver making mistakes and dropping or slashing points of other drivers.
Thus, with an 84-point lead with 12 races to go, Verstappen mathematically sits in a comfortable position on his route to his fourth championship. Therefore, all he needs is constant podium finishes instead of regular wins. However, things might be different for the 2025 season, where Red Bull might entirely lose its edge.
Hence, rumors about Verstappen being linked with Mercedes are yet to die down, allowing Toto Wolff to make use of it. On the other hand, Red Bull risks losing the constructors’ championship this year, as the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are bringing in consistent results combined.
