Max Verstappen ended his 10-race-long winless streak with an effortlessly dominant display in treacherous conditions at Interlagos last weekend. After romping to victory with a 19-second advantage over the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, the Dutchman also put his closest title-rival, Lando Norris realistically out of the running for the world title.
That said, not only did Verstappen effectively guarantee his fourth consecutive title, but he also exposed McLaren’s strategic deficit against Red Bull.
During the 69-lap Grand Prix, the Milton Keynes-based outfit showcased composure on the pit wall when their rivals McLaren were harrying to get Norris a pit stop. A VSC, Safety Car, and Red Flag later, the #1 driver’s patience came to fruition as he assumed second place behind Ocon while Norris dropped outside of the podium places at the restart.
This prompted F1TV pundit and former F1 driver, Jolyon Palmer to dissect this strategy gaffe by the Woking-based team, equating their title ambitions against Red Bull. On BBC’s F1: Chequered Flag podcast, the former Renault man stated that McLaren aren’t ready to win titles yet.
“They are not at the standard of Red Bull operationally. That is, I think, so clear. And this is another race that they were in control of. They had pole position and they were hustling George Russell,” he explained while stating that giving up track position to Verstappen was always going to be a risk that they should have accounted for.
Pound for pound, the MCL38 was a faster car than the RB20. However, a mix of strategy and driver errors proved costly for Norris and McLaren. At the restart, Norris went deep into turn 1, losing crucial places to the Dutchman. In the end, he finished P6 — now 62 points behind Verstappen in the standings.
The only saving grace for McLaren has been the fact that both their drivers have consistently raked in the points for them over the course of the season — something Sergio Perez has not been able to do for Red Bull — thus, their lead in the constructors’ standings.
That being said, Ferrari are in touching distance of the Woking-based team in terms of the constructors’ title. With 36 points separating the duo, the Scuderia are in resurgent form and hungry to break their 16-year-old championship drought.
