The current season in Formula 1 is unveiling a captivating shift for enthusiasts - Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their usual dominance in the world championships.
Following Charles Leclerc's victory in Monaco, the battle for the constructors' championship has intensified, bringing Leclerc within 31 points of Verstappen - with Ferrari now only 24 points adrift Red Bull.
"It's 31?" the driver from Ferrari queried. "Somebody told me 23, so I was excited. But I don't think about the championship for now anyway."
Over the last few races, Red Bull has begun to encounter unexpected difficulties with their 2024 car, culminating in a particularly difficult weekend at Monaco. Yet, Carlos Sainz maintains it's simply "common sense" that Verstappen is likely to continue securing victories in upcoming races on "normal tracks."
"Domination, like we were seeing, hopefully not," the Spanish driver commented. "But favourites? Yes."
Leclerc also noted that "the turning point of the season was a few races a go," indicating a shift in the competitive landscape as McLaren also edges closer to Red Bull and Ferrari.
Post Verstappen's P6 finish on Sunday, Verstappen shared, "We know that some tracks just really don't suit our car at the moment. But the positive thing of this weekend is that it really highlighted our weakness, and that's what we have to work on. One bad race will not decide the champion, but I know that if you want to win the title, you have to perform consistently. This weekend we simply didn't deserve to be in the top three."
A more pressing issue for Verstappen and Red Bull is the mystery surrounding their recent performance setbacks. "Priority number 1 is to understand what the problem is, because we don't know that yet," Verstappen confessed.
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