After getting us used to a 20-second winning margin for Max the end of the Emilia Romagna GP gave us a less than a second margin to Norris
The beginning of the season had every fan as pessimistic as they could be. Another year of 2023-styled Verstappen domination came after the F1 fans. However, this year might still surprise us. On one hand, we still see Max Verstappen winning the World Drivers Championship as the most likely scenario. On the other hand, we see every day how the field gets closer to that almighty Red Bull and more race winners could take their place in the sun during the season. The closest battle we have seen this year has been here at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The race gave us an uncomfortable Red Bull. Tyre management issues, pace way below the usual, a qualifying even closer and Sergio Pérez struggling outside the top 10. Pérez is actually a great benchmark to see where Red Bull is really at. On the contrary, Max will take every bit of performance the car offers. However, if we don’t see Checo being close to the top that means Max is closer to the second place. In this race, we saw Lando Norris again being the main threat to Verstappen and finishing less than a second away from the Dutch.
Red Bull’s dominance might have ended in this Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
After 2023 and the first races of 2024 we have seen the field get closer to Red Bull becoming a reality. McLaren and Ferrari have found the keys to performance in this set of rules. Do not mistake this. Red Bull, or to be more specific, Max Verstappen is still on top of the standings and it’s the safe bet for winning the World Drivers Championship. On the contrary, constructors could be a different story. Ferrari and McLaren having two consistent pairings could make Red Bull not able to get the title without a consistent 2nd driver next to the Dutch,
Sergio Pérez looks further each day to be second in the driver standings the more the Red Bull looks close to the rest. To begin with, he has been already passed by the Monegasque Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris is only 6 points away from him and stands with more victories than the Mexican. During the race, Checo was nowhere to be seen. Fighting with backmarkers like RB and Mercedes for the whole race and finishing behind George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
McLaren and Ferrari fight to be the ones challenging Red Bull
Last year we saw a fight for second place closing up between Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin during the whole year. With each race having a small difference in that balance of power. However, that balance of power never was close to Red Bull. This year is very different. McLaren and Ferrari are the only ones fighting for second place but they are closer than we thought they would to the Milton-Keynes squad.
Some weeks ago we learned about Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull and the effects of that loss could be having consequences already. No doubt Ferrari and McLaren are the two most rumored destinations for the legendary British designer.
Mercedes steps a bit up but does not catch the rest of the field, Aston Martin is lost again
At the end of last year, we saw Mercedes and Ferrari very close on pace and fighting for second in the standings all year long. In the end, The Silver Arrows came on top. This made fans think that momentum would still give the Brackley squad a spot to fight the Red Bulls in 2024. On February 1st we learned Lewis Hamilton was leaving Mercedes for Ferrari in 2025 and that could give us the first clue of where the team was in terms of performance. That was confirmed in Bahrain. The first race of the season gave us a clear picture of the problems Mercedes had. Those problems are still present even with their new Emilia Romagna upgrades.
The main fight of Mercedes will be with the ones sharing their wind tunnel with them. Aston Martin had a very bad weekend in Imola. Perhaps, the Mercedes wind tunnel could be a problem for both teams as the data is not being translated into reality.
Yuki Tsunoda is still having his best season so far and leading the backmarkers
Visa Cash App RB, Red Bull‘s junior team was expected to be the Daniel Ricciardo test drive to anticipate his return to the main team. This has not been the case. Instead, Yuki Tsunoda with some brilliant races has been the leader of the team now standing 7th in the constructors championship. The Japanese driver even has achieved 10th place on the driver standings in front of Lance Stroll. He also achieved to qualify in front of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 7th place.
Williams and Kick Sauber haven’t got any points finish in the whole season. Nico Hulkenberg is carrying Haas on his amazing Q3 performances and the defensive strategies of Kevin Magnussen. Ocon holds the only point for the French squad at Alpine. Alexander Albon, Logan Sargeant, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Pierre Gasly haven’t finished on the top 10 this season. This makes Yuki Tsunoda‘s performance an even greater tale. The fight for points in the back is as tight as ever.
Guillermo Lorenzo Manzano
