Although the competition for Max Verstappen and Red Bull seems to have increased drastically in 2024, their dominance seems to show few signs of stopping. The Dutchman has continued from where he left off in 2023 as he has already won seven of the 10 races that have taken place this season. However, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes that Lando Norris could have prevented Verstappen from winning in Barcelona last weekend.
The Austrian, in his column on Speed Week, wrote, “I think if Lando had stayed ahead at the start, we wouldn’t have won the race. But the start dropped him to third position, behind Russell and Max“.
George Russell!!! WHAT A START!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/VmtkADVcXA
— deni (@fiagirly) June 23, 2024
And it is not just Marko who believes that Norris should have won in Barcelona. The British driver too admitted that he had the car underneath him to beat Verstappen for the victory. When asked in his post-race interview if he could have won the Spanish GP, Norris replied (as quoted by formula1.com),
“Not could, should have won. I got a bad start. Simple as that. The car was incredible today. I think we were for sure the quickest. I just lost it in the beginning“
While there is no doubt that Norris had a poor star when compared to Verstappen and Russell, there were other reasons why he lost the Spanish GP. And everything had to do with the outstanding teamwork of Verstappen and the rest of his Red Bull team.
Hear from Andrea and the drivers after the #SpanishGP. pic.twitter.com/k7riUNyI2D
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 23, 2024
The Milton Keynes-based outfit seemed flawless in all departments, with Verstappen proving to be the key differential. Although Verstappen lost the lead to Russell in the opening corner, he overtook the Mercedes driver on the very next lap to ensure that the race was still in his control.
From there on, he controlled the pace brilliantly and notched his third consecutive win in Spain. Even though Verstappen is proving to be the differential so far, even Helmut Marko has admitted that the 26-year-old cannot perform at such a high level every week.
Max Verstappen is not enough to win every time
Although Verstappen and Red Bull are still dominating, Marko fears that this may not last long if his side does not find areas to improve the pace of the RB20. The Austrian simply believes that there will be instances that no matter how well Verstappen drives, he may not be able to make the difference for Red Bull.
Marko gave the example of Verstappen’s timely overtake on Russell in Barcelona to explain his point. The 81-year-old believes that had Verstappen not overtook the Mercedes driver on lap two, he would have struggled to open up enough of a gap to Norris to ensure that he kept the McLaren behind.
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Another area where Red Bull seems to have the edge at the moment is strategy. The Milton Keynes-based outfit chose the right tires for Verstappen during the Spanish GP as they decided against choosing the hards, a tire many drivers struggled on during the race.
Therefore, if rival teams improve upon their strategy, they can perhaps pose Verstappen and Red Bull more of a challenge moving forward. Until then, there is a huge chance that the three-time champion will continue to dominate despite no longer having the quickest car.
