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• Red Bull boss Horner predicts four-way battle for F1 supremacy in the next 18 months

  Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is expecting a "flat-out" fight for supremacy in Formula One over the next 18 months.

  Austrian constructor Red Bull have been the dominant force in F1 over the past few years, with Max Verstappen winning three straight drivers' titles and the team taking the constructors' trophy in 2022 and 2023.

  The early stages of the 2024 season followed a similar pattern with flying Dutchman Verstappen winning four of the opening five races but there have now been seven different victors through 14 rounds.

  Verstappen still holds a healthy 78-point lead from second-place Lando Norris in the driver standings but McLaren are only 42 points adrift of Red Bull in the constructor table, with Ferrari 63 back and improving Mercedes 142 behind.

  Horner, in quotes reported by F1's official website, thinks there is going to be a battle between all four of those F1 heavyweights in the near future.

  "I think it’s great for the sport, and it was almost inevitable when you get consistency of regulations, you always get convergence," he said.

  "I remember when I first came into Formula 1, Ron Dennis banging that drum back in 2005. Convergence has always brought the teams together. 

  "Of course we have a big regulations change in 2026 that will cause divergence but, between now and then, the next 18 months I think it will be flat-out between the four teams."

  F1 returns after a near month-long break with the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend, Verstappen's home race.

   

• Albon believes Williams' foundations are strong despite results

  Alex Albon remains confident that the foundations are in place for Williams to improve despite their recent spell of disappointing results.

  After 14 races last season, Albon had achieved five top 10 finishes yet has only finished in the top-half of the field twice at the same point this season.

  Williams revealed that their car was overweight at the start of the season, estimated to have cost them 0.45 seconds per lap.

  Despite the disappointment, however, Albon still feels the team are heading in the right direction.

  “It's a real shame that at the start of the year, we were not on-weight where we should have been,” he told Motorsport.com.

  “Our car should have been in the points consistently for the first few races and then we would have shuffled down to where we are now.

  “A lot of what-ifs but I'm happy we're getting the foundations in place. I don't think without the changes we've made, I would ever see us as a team that can get out of this backfield battle.

  “I feel like now at least we've got foundations that can bring us up."

  While Albon remains realistic that Williams needs to improve, he also feels their struggles are in part due to the improvement of the rest of the field.

  "We are obviously not where we want to be. Truthfully, I feel like that's testament to the other teams too. That midfield group has made such a huge step,” he said.

  "We've made a good step but relative to the others, maybe we are holding back a little bit.

  "We've done a lot of changes within the team, last year into this year, there's been big changes around the DNA of the car, but also the structure of the team.

  "When you put the team under that much work and do that many changes, it shows the cracks.”

  Due to those cracks, scrutiny has been focused on team principal James Vowles, who joined the Williams in 2023 after 12 years at Mercedes.

  His arrival saw an immediate improvement as Williams finished seventh in the Constructor’s Championship in 2023, three places better than the previous season.

  They currently sit ninth but Albon still believes Vowles remains “the right man for the job”.

  He said: "I have been very much a part of the project. James has brought me into it. He's very straight. He doesn't tell you things are better than they actually are, and I like that.

  "I feel like whenever something's not come to plan he tells me the areas that the team needs to work on. He tells me if there's anything I can do to help.”

  That pragmatism has rubbed off on the 28-year-old driver, who cannot see titles coming Williams’ way soon.

  “If I am being totally honest, I don't see us being in position to fight for wins and titles for a while, but to do steps where we start nipping in and getting podiums,” said Albon.

  "I believe that 2026 would be difficult, but winning in '27 would be much more realistic. We've got great investment, and we're recruiting very aggressively.”

• McLaren chief Brown surprised to be competing with Red Bull

  Zak Brown has admitted to being shocked by McLaren's competitive performance in the Formula One world championship this season.

  McLaren sit just 42 points adrift of Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship, with lead driver Lando Norris also second to Max Verstappen in the standings.

  The team have achieved podium finishes in their last 10 races, and they are well placed to challenge across the back half of the campaign.

  Brown, however, was not expecting such success so soon.

  "If I were to sit here and say I'm not surprised, that would be disingenuous," Brown told BBC Sport.

  "Red Bull had such an advantage over everyone and Mercedes has been so dominant.

  "I felt like we'd continue to close the gap. Did I think we would be here at the summer break, one race away from getting the lead?

  "That race would have to be first and second and fastest lap, and do I think it's going to happen like that? No. But if we keep the same trajectory we've been on the last six, seven races, we'll be where we need to be by the end of the year.

  "I thought we might get where we are now by 2025. I didn't think we would be where we are now in 2024. But I'm not complaining."

  Both Norris and Oscar Piastri have claimed their maiden race wins this season indicative of an increasingly competitive McLaren.

  Brown credits team principal Andrea Stella, who was appointed ahead of the 2023 season, for the growing success.

  "He unlocked the talent that we already had here," Brown said. "We've got approximately 1,000 people here in F1. I changed three. But it was three leaders. So, 997 are the same people who gave us the [uncompetitive] car at the beginning of 2023.

  "A leader's job is to get the most out of their people and that's what we didn't have previously. We weren't able to let the talent we have in here flourish.

  "Andrea communicates very well. He listens very well. He's very hard-working. He's very technical. He leads by example. All the traits you would want in a great leader. He unlocked the potential this team clearly had sitting there."

  While Piastri continued McLaren's podium success at the Belgian Grand Prix, Norris could not make gains in the driver standings despite Verstappen having to deal with a 10-place grid penalty.

  He finished fifth, one place behind Red Bull’s reigning champion. Brown, however, sees these experiences as a learning curve for everyone.

  "We've all made a variety of errors, which to me are learning experiences," he reflected.

  "I thought [Mercedes team principal] Toto [Wolff] was accurate with his comment. He said: 'Well, sometimes you figure these things out once they've kind of been put on your plate.'

  "So if I look at the mistakes we've made - whether those are drivers or us, kinda doesn't matter; we're one team - we wouldn't make these mistakes again. We're learning. And I think maybe because we have got where we are quicker than we thought, it shows we still have learning to do.

  "Lando is trying to fight for a world championship. He's going for it. He's learning, as are we. So I'm not concerned about it."