Max Verstappen believes McLaren can be a threat to the championship

Can Max Verstappen really lose the championship? With four wins in the first five Grand Prix races, everything seemed to indicate another year of domination for Red Bull, with the Dutch driver winning race after race. However, the trend has completely reversed in recent months as the Milton Keynes team has already missed out on victory seven times and is now facing fierce competition, especially from Ferrari, Mercedes, and above all McLaren, which seems to be the car to beat this season.

This is what the triple world champion Max Verstappen stated during the Spa weekend: “I think if you look at the last five, six races, they have surely been the best. It’s pretty clear. And that’s good, it’s fair play for them. I think they have done an excellent job.” The Woking team indeed seems to be Red Bull’s main rival, having already won two races with Lando Norris in Miami and Oscar Piastri in Hungary. In addition to these successes, the Woking team has shown impressive consistency, able to compete for top positions on all types of circuits.

The Dutchman also wanted to salute their work, while stressing that they could become a serious threat to the championship at the end of the season. Naturally, if they are the dominant force and continue to win, then yes, for sure. I mean the road is still very long, of course, but many things can happen, he replied to the media, including RacingNews365. Despite this, the triple world champion remains focused on his own performances and those of his team. He encourages Red Bull to step up their efforts to develop their car and optimize their performances.

« But at the end of the day, we just have to focus on ourselves. I think we can do better, perhaps also in terms of performance optimization. So that’s where my attention goes. Naturally, you have the championship in the background, but I think we need to first focus on trying to find a bit more performance in the car.

» The Austrian team must therefore step up their game, having only secured two victories in the last seven races and coming off two consecutive weekends without any podium finishes in Hungary and at the Spa circuit, while McLaren and Mercedes were taking the wins.

With only a 42-point lead over McLaren in the constructors’ standings, a gap that is decreasing race by race, some adjustments seem necessary on the Milton Keynes side, particularly regarding its ability to evolve the car, which had introduced a new package at Silverstone and then in Hungary that did not have the expected effect.

From our side, yes, we have some work to do. A few things to analyze during the break. We will try to fight again at Zandvoort, see if we can really improve the situation, try to turn things around, try to be more competitive,” explained the Dutch driver.

With a 78-point lead in the drivers’ standings, it seems unlikely that Verstappen will lose the title this year. However, the 2024 season has already reserved many surprises, and a series of bad weekends could completely turn the tables. This uncertainty makes the second half of the season particularly exciting.