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Ex-F1 driver asserts Max Verstappen and Red Bull no longer the ‘benchmark’ amidst McLaren’s rise

Red Bull started the ground-effect era as the class of the field. The dominance deteriorated slowly as in the ongoing season, the Austrian giant has found it tough to score a strong haul of points during race weekends. This has piled up pressure on the team and Max Verstappen. In light of this, former Red Bull driver David Coulthard asserted that Verstappen and the Austrian outfit were no longer the benchmark as McLaren started to appear as the better team.

Max Verstappen started his 2024 campaign with a 22-second lead to P2 at the season-opener. On the contrary, at Zandvoort, the Dutchman finished behind Lando Norris by the same margin, depicting the change in guard at the top. Red Bull and Verstappen have often found it difficult to claim higher finishing positions as the RB20 has become a monster, which has caused its drivers to often fight with the car.

The full extent of confused Red Bull’s 2024 F1 car crisis

This led David Coulthard to claim that Red Bull was no longer the benchmark fearing the inevitable reality settling in.

They are definitely not as hot as they were. The lap time doesn’t lie. They are on the back foot. The upgrades haven’t worked. They are no longer the benchmark in terms of outright performance. They know that. They can’t hide from it. 

David Coulthard said on Channel 4

Coulthard reckoned that the RB20 was not as agile as it was earlier as it threw tantrums every corner. This has made the car a handful which has caused the Milton Keynes-based squad to fall in the pecking order and subsequently helped the rise of McLaren back to the top.

Helmut Marko sheds light on how Red Bull can get back on track

With Red Bull’s timid results every race weekend, the RB20’s problems have taken priority status within Milton Keynes. Subsequently, the team spent a few race weekends collecting data from races on how different downforce packages interacted with the car’s aerodynamics, which could help them understand the intrinsic nature of their challenger.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner (via IMAGO)
Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko and Christian Horner (via IMAGO)

On the other hand, Helmut Marko explained the procedure on how Red Bull can get back on track.

So we have to rebuild and hopefully find the point where the car was in balance. If we manage that, the car's behavior will be predictable again, the drivers will gain new confidence and will be able to contribute ideally again.

Helmut Marko wrote in his column on SpeedWeek

The Austrian elucidated that the team would have to take an in-depth look at the car to find its fundamental flaw. Subsequently, they would have to address the issue properly to make the car predictable again and induce confidence in the drivers.

Though Marko seemed optimistic, Red Bull is in an extremely vulnerable position when it comes to defending its constructors title. Thus, the team is now focusing on giving Verstappen every bit of help to aid him in securing his fourth consecutive driver’s world title.

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