For the first time in a while, the first eight races of a season have featured four different race winners. The exciting results have set the tone for the rest of the campaign with 16 more races to go. As things heat up on both championship fronts, Red Bull’s title defense is under threat. Now, the Austrian team’s closest rivals have issued a warning as well.
At the start of the season, it seemed like another straightforward championship run for Max Verstappen and Co. However, Ferrari soon became a nuisance as Carlos Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix.
Soon after that, McLaren won a race thanks to Lando Norris’ outstanding drive in Miami. And then most recently, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won the Monaco GP. In light of the results of the recent races, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur believes the three teams will battle it out till the end.
As seen on X by user @formularacers_, he said, “There will be circuits that favor one team over another. But the difference will be a tenth, a tenth and a half.”
| Fred Vasseur expects Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull to battle every weekend:
“There will be circuits that favour one team over another. But the difference will be a tenth, a tenth and a half.”
— formularacers (@formularacers_) May 29, 2024
After the race wins for both Ferrari and McLaren, the challengers now have confidence in their machinery and drivers’ abilities. This is exactly why Vasseur believes they can beat Red Bull on some tracks.
On the ones they won’t be able to, the difference will be marginal and under a second, according to the Frenchman. In fact, after the Monaco GP result, the championship is wide open on both fronts. This has given the men at Ferrari and McLaren a sense of self-belief.
Carlos Sainz believes recent results have put Red Bull under pressure
This heightened sense of self-belief is contagious and Carlos Sainz is infected. The Spaniard is in exceptional form and already has a win under his belt in the current campaign.
However, it was the Monaco GP qualifying struggles of Red Bull that made the 29-year-old believe the Austrian outfit could be knocked off their throne. Sainz saw Red Bull trembling under pressure for the first time in a long time on Saturday after neither Max Verstappen nor Sergio Perez managed to qualify in the top five.
As quoted by Race Fans, Sainz said, “Being within 24 points of the Red Bull in the Constructors, you see that when you put them under pressure yesterday, Max did a mistake in Q3 run two, Checo was out in Q1. We all just need to be there to show that these things can happen to Red Bull too. And [Saturday] is the best example.”
Despite what the past couple of seasons would’ve made one believe, Red Bull seems susceptible to pressure as well. Hence, the dominant Austrian outfit can be knocked off their perch and that’s exactly what Ferrari and McLaren aim to do.
With a gap of just 24 points in the Constructors’ Championship and 31 points in the Driver’s Championship, it’s all to play for until the very end.
