Red Bull's internal issues may hit their Formula One team down the line, so says McLaren chief Zak Brown.
While Max Verstappen remains in control of the drivers' championship, and Red Bull lead the constructors' standings, their 2024 season has been far from ideal to date.
Red Bull remain in pole on the track, but there have been issues off it as team boss Christian Horner's future appears uncertain, while lead designer Adrian Newey is leaving.
Even if they are not caught this season, McLaren chief executive Brown feels the issues will eventually catch up with Red Bull if they do not find a resolution.
And while Red Bull have scored points in each of the last 55 races, with Verstappen having seven wins this season, it was Mercedes who triumphed at the Austrian Grand Prix and Silverstone in the past two races, leaving Horner's outfit short of momentum.
Ahead of this week's Hungarian Grand Prix, Brown said: "I think the turmoil will have more of a mid to longer-term impact.
"Adrian Newey... this car was done last year, what they are racing now was done when everything was fine.
"It's more 2026 when you've got a new engine coming, what's going on with the driver front? That's where you potentially are going to see the lack of stability that appears to be there maybe come through a little bit.
"Winning holds things together and as that becomes more of a challenge for them, that's where you might see some more fractures in various relationships inside that camp."
Brown's McLaren are enjoying a fine campaign. Lando Norris, with one race win under his belt and many other near misses, sits second to Verstappen in the standings, while the team are third in the constructors' championship, just seven points behind Ferrari.
Indeed, six drivers have already tasted victory in 2024, which is the most in a single F1 season since 2012 (eight).
And Brown feels next season will be an even more intriguing battle.
"I think next year could be an epic season, right? You could have four teams fighting for the championship," he said.
"It would be naive to rule out someone who's not in the top four right now, because we do see how quickly things can change.
"Everyone has very similar technology, so there's no reason why others can't do what we've done the last year."
This weekend's race will be the 39th edition of the Hungarian Grand Prix in F1. Since its appearance on the calendar in 1986, it is one of only four races that have been held each year without interruption, along with the British Grand Prix, Italian Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix.
DRIVERS TO WATCH
Max Verstappen - Red Bull
Verstappen has won the last two editions of this race, and the Dutchman is aiming to become only the second driver in F1 history to win three in a row at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after Lewis Hamilton between 2018 and 2020.
But the three-time reigning champion comes into the event after finishing fifth and second in his last two outings. He has not gone three successive races without a win since 2021 and on that occasion all three victories went to Mercedes, who have won the last two races.
Is that a bad omen for Red Bull?
Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
Hamilton celebrated his first victory since 2021 as he triumphed for Mercedes at Silverstone last time out.
The Hungarian Grand Prix has always been one of his favourite races and no driver has won it more times (eight), had more pole positions (nine), reached more podiums (11) and scored more points (271) than Hamilton at the circuit.
There is also a landmark in the offing.
Hamilton has been on the podium 199 times in his F1 career (49 with McLaren and 150 with Mercedes). His next top-three finish will see him become the first driver to finish on the podium 200 times.
And even if Hamilton does not get a front-row placing in qualifying, do not rule him out. The last three Hungarian Grand Prix winners have not started from pole position. If this trend is repeated in 2024, it will be the second time that the winner has not started from pole position in four consecutive editions at the Hungaroring (four between 2008 and 2011).
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 255
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 171
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 150
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 146
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 124
Constructors
1. Red Bull - 373
2. Ferrari - 302
3. McLaren - 295
4. Mercedes - 221
5. Aston Martin - 68
FIA wrong to punish Verstappen for swearing, says Steiner
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has said the FIA was wrong to punish Formula One world champion Max Verstappen for swearing.
The Red Bull driver, who won his third world championship title last year, was asked to do community service by the motorsport’s governing body for swearing in a news conference during last month’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Verstappen then protested against the punishment by giving short answers during an official news conference and termed the penalty "ridiculous", going on to say that such decisions could speed up his exit from the sport.
Now, the former Haas boss has weighed in, saying that the FIA should not have “made a big story out of it.”
“Max didn't swear at anybody. He used the f-word about his car. So nobody got offended by it, in my opinion,” said Steiner, who departed Haas at the start of the year.
"The best way [to handle it] would have been not to make a big story of it. Sit down with the drivers, they have a meeting every weekend, and say: 'Hey, guys, can you tone it down a little bit? We are the FIA, we don't really like this.'
"But don't say: 'If you do, you get a fine, a penalty, whatever.' Because you know these guys, they've got an ego as well. And they say: 'I don't want to do that.' And then what do you create? All this controversy - for nothing."
Leclerc excited by 'motivation' Hamilton's arrival will bring to Ferrari
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc thinks that the arrival of Lewis Hamilton can help take both the team and himself to another level.
At the start of the 2024 season, Ferrari shocked Formula One by announcing that Hamilton would replace Carlos Sainz and be joining for the following campaign.
His impending arrival is something that Leclerc is clearly excited about, as he explained in an appearance on the Beyond The Grid podcast.
“When a champion like Lewis gets to any team, it brings a lot of motivation out of every single person,” Leclerc said.
“He will come along with all the experience that he's had over the years with Mercedes – a different way of working, a different vision – and this is always benefitting a team.”
Hamilton is a seven-time Drivers’ Championship winner with his last title coming in 2020, meaning he is level in the all-time standings with Michael Schumacher, while he also holds the F1 record for the most race wins ever (105).
Understandably, Leclerc is looking forward to being able to measure his own performance against a strong yardstick.
“Obviously for me it's going to be amazing because I’ll have, in the same car as me, the most successful driver in F1 history,” he said.
“That will be both extremely interesting for me to learn from one of the best ever, as well as a really big challenge and motivation to beat Lewis and to show what I'm capable of.
“With Lewis joining the team, he will definitely be a benchmark so it will be very important for me to be on my top level.”
On a personal level, Hamilton’s arrival will spell an end to the four-year period that Leclerc and Sainz have been together at Ferrari.
Leclerc was reflective about the relationship the pair have had while racing together, with Sainz set to join Williams in 2025.
While they have a good personal relationship, Leclerc said that it has not always gone smoothly.
“I think we get on very, very well,” he said.
“Yes, there have been many moments where, inside the helmet, I hated him and he hated me, because we didn't view the situation in the same way.
“But everything was fixed after a discussion between us two. We share many interests and we’ve had a lot of memorable moments that I will remember forever.”
Jamaican sensation Alex Powell claims first F4 win in Italy
Jamaican Alex Powell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Junior, claimed his first European F4 victory in one of the most exciting races of the year at the famed ‘Temple of Speed’, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy, on Sunday.
Ninth on the grid for the first race of the weekend, Powell had a blistering start, which saw him move up four positions on lap one, before the first of several Safety Car appearances paused racing. It was a race with multiple incidents and re-starts, but Powell remained focused and was consistently sharp for every start.
After a three-way battle, the Jamaican sensation executed a breathtaking pass for the race lead, before a final incident brought out the Safety Car again, with Powell crossing the line first as the race finished.
In addition to the outright race win, Powell also secured first among rookie drivers, claiming the two top trophies in the race. His performance also assisted Prema Racing to secure the team title for the 2024 Euro 4 Championship.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
