Qualifying at the 2024 British GP put another stamp on Red Bull’s declining dominance. The Austrian outfit looks to be a shadow of its 2023 self, and defending the Constructors’ Title seems like a daunting task. For the same, Team Principal Christian Horner puts all his faith in Lewis Hamilton to bail the team out in Sunday’s race.
Only one Red Bull car went into Q3, and unsurprisingly, it was Max Verstappen’s. However, even the 26-year-old could only manage P4 by the end of the session.
Hamilton, on the other hand, finished P2, just behind his Mercedes teammate George Russell, who put his car on pole. Starting in third place will be McLaren’s Lando Norris, who is Verstappen’s current rival in the Drivers’ Championship. As such, Horner doesn’t want Norris to win or finish ahead of his driver and he calls for Hamilton to win the British GP as this would be the most favorable outcome for Red Bull.
Per AMuS Horner said, “I never thought I’d say this. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Hamilton. Mercedes are hurting us less in the World Championship than McLaren.”
The Silverstone curse is over for Max Verstappen, as he wins the #BritishGP and grabs his 6th win in a row ️
️ 2021: Crashes out of the race on the first lap after a collision with Hamilton going into Copse corner
️ 2022: Floor became damaged early in the race and he… pic.twitter.com/QrhKzvlCN9
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) July 9, 2023
Since their upgrades, Mercedes has been rapid, giving the championship front two a fair fight. However, they’re currently not a threat because of their late arrival to the 2024 championship battle.
So, for Verstappen, finishing ahead of Norris will be the biggest priority heading into the race in Silverstone.
Red Bull’s troubles are not fully dependent on Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull’s been under massive pressure since McLaren caught up to them. The Woking-based outfit has not been able to secure more wins since Miami. However, both their cars have consistently been on podiums and in the top 5. This can’t be said for Red Bull and they’re still lacking the pace, even in Silverstone.
Despite being on a favorable track, the RB20 is still not the fastest car. Helmut Marko admitted this as quoted by GP Blog. He said, “We are nine-tenths off the best time. In the last run, where some others were faster despite light rain, we did not make any improvement. We are in a vicious circle.
“It is difficult and we have to wait and see. Maybe we were too conservative in the whole set-up or in our whole approach.”
The reigning champions can’t make sense of their car’s rapid downfall. This will eventually catch up in the lengthy season if there’s only one car competing at the front. Moreover, if that one car isn’t winning the majority of the races, the title fight will get only tighter.
