Apart from catching Red Bull at the front, Ferrari and McLaren are also locked in the battle for second. Both teams have massively improved in the last year. Now they’re the closest to Red Bull but also engage in track-dependant battles against each other. However, despite their on-track rivalry, there is plenty of respect between the two teams. McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown proved that with his recent statement regarding their battle against Fred Vasseur and Co.
As seen on Autosport’s latest Instagram post, Brown said, “Unfortunately the only way to race [some teams] is race them the way they race. It is much more enjoyable to [race Fred] and have the camaraderie. That is what sport should be about – to be able to fight each other hard on the track and then shake each other’s hand once it is all said and done.”
On reading Brown’s claims, 1996 champion Damon Hill also gave his approval. He posted a story of the same with the caption,“Totally right”.
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The camaraderie between Ferrari and McLaren was seen in Miami as well. On that occasion, Fred Vasseur joined McLaren to celebrate Lando Norris’ first race win in the sport. He sportingly put on the Papaya-colored cap when Zak Brown threw one at him.
Moreover, Vasseur even patiently waited for the photo OP to finish and enthusiastically sprayed champagne on the entire team after it. In fact, if these two teams continue like this, Red Bull and Max Verstappen might just be in trouble.
Hill believes McLaren and Ferrari’s combined effort can rob Verstappen of his advantage
Verstappen has still managed to stay on top and even extended his advantage after the Canadian GP on the table. Furthermore, Red Bull has more upgrades in the pipeline, which might help them discover their superiority back. If this happens, the Dutchman could be uncatchable.
However, Damon Hill believes it won’t be as straightforward. Even though the scales are tipping in Verstappen and Co’s favor, stranger things have happened. On the latest episode of the F1 Nation podcast, the 1996 champion said, “But strange things happen in our sport. I think he’s got more people attacking him, which seems to be the case.”
The surprisingly increased competition has put the reigning champions under immense pressure. Now, it will be interesting to see how things progress in the coming months and who enters the summer break on top.
