Max Verstappen emerged as the winner in Spain after a fierce strategic battle against Lando Norris. The team, led by Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko, and Christian Horner, started the season with great determination to win every race. However, as the season progressed, their rivals caught up and posed a serious threat. The victories in Spain and Canada came after a series of challenging weekends for Red Bull in Monaco and Miami. This highlighted the fact that they cannot maintain perfection throughout the season due to growing competition.
Currently, Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings with a 69-point advantage. Despite his lead increasing in the past two stages, the risk of collapse has been increasing week after week. Other teams, such as McLaren and Mercedes, have discovered untapped potential in their cars and managed to steal victories from Red Bull. However, Verstappen has shown exceptional driving skills and secured wins even when his teammate struggled at the back of the pack.
Witnessing Verstappen’s exceptional performance, Helmut Marko expressed concerns about maintaining the same level of results throughout the season. He emphasized that Verstappen’s crucial overtaking maneuver at turn one during the Spanish Grand Prix played a key role in securing the victory. Marko further stated that Verstappen’s success is mainly due to his confidence, not the speed of the car. However, he fears that if the RB20 loses speed, Verstappen may not be able to continue stealing wins from his rivals.
While Red Bull is winning races with one driver, the same cannot be said for their other driver, Sergio Perez. Perez has been struggling to score points in the last few races, accumulating only eight points in the last four races. This has led to questions from fans about Red Bull’s decision to renew his contract.
When asked about Perez’s performance, Helmut Marko initially defended the 34-year-old driver, highlighting his starting position just outside the top-10. However, he later acknowledged that the competition is getting tougher and that Perez cannot afford to have weaknesses.
Despite Marko’s concerns, Perez himself admitted that McLaren is currently ahead of Red Bull. This has created a peculiar situation within the team, as Perez seems to have accepted defeat to his rivals while the team relies on his performance to secure the constructors’ titles.
