Red Bull have suffered one of the largest falls from grace in F1 history. Having won 21 or the 22 races last season, the world champions started the year in similar form. Max Verstappen won four of the first five races and was only prevented from making it a clean sweep due to brake failure down under in Melbourne.

At the summer break, Red Bull and Max had won just three of the previous nine races yet his lead in the drivers’ championship remains reasonably secure as Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes all claimed victories. Verstappen has won half the races so far this year and Lewis Hamilton is the only other driver to win more than one race.

This of course means with no single challenger from Red Bull’s rival teams, Verstappen’s healthy lead of 78 points over Lando Norris is likely to be enough with ten races remaining to see the Dutch driver over the line in the championship.

 

 

 

Marko admits to Red Bull problems

Dr. Marko now shares his thoughts on how Red Bull will fare in the upcoming four races before another month long break following the  Singapore Grand Prix.

“During the summer break, there is nothing going on for two weeks, which means that no work on the car is possible,” Red Bull’s advisor told Speedweek.

“We have to solve our problems and find out where the fault is, because we don’t have the balance in the car anymore if you compare the current situation with the first three races.”

Zandvoort returned to the F1 calendar in 2021 and has been a happy hunting ground for Max Verstappen, winning all three events. The DNA of the Red Bull ground effect cars should mean the RB20 goes better in the Dutch Grand Prix than recently in Hungary and Belgium.

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Verstappen won all 3 modern Zandvoort races

“It’s difficult to estimate how quickly this will happen. I don’t think the big solution will come in Zandvoort,” he writes. “We do intensive brainstorming and also have various ideas. But I can’t say yet what we will implement and how.”

Verstappen claimed pole position last time out in Spa Francorchamps but engine penalties saw him start the race in P11. Qualifying is vital in Zandvoort given the difficulty the drivers have in overtaking as Marko makes plain.

“One thing is clear: qualifying at Zandvoort will be decisive, because overtaking is hardly possible there,” said the Red bull advisor. “And Max could well succeed in a good qualifying, because he has been good there recently.

“We were the fastest in Austria and also in Spa. In Hungary, only a few hundredths were missing – so we are already complaining at a high level.”

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Singapore looms large

The RB19 was the quickest car in a straight line last season, although the recent Grand Prix in Spa suggests this year’s version has lost that advantage. Despite the huge long Kemmel straight in Spa, Verstappen having caught Hamilton found it almost impossible to overtake him.

This leaves questions remaining unanswered over how Red Bull will go in Monza and Azerbaijan, circuits which have equally lengthy and demanding straights. Singapore has proven to be Red Bull’s achilles heel in recent years with Carlos Sainz’s victory last year being the only Grand Prix that Red Bull failed to claim the win.

Sergio Perez did win the 2022 event, though the configuration of the circuit has meant its typically Red Bull’s worst event of the season.

Chief trackside engineer Paul Monaghan noted in Belgium that Red Bull have a variety of basic set ups they can take to differing track configurations.

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Red Bull head of trackside refuses to speculate

“We know how to set our car up, and we always arrive with a level of confidence, there are some doubts about: ‘if we get this, what should we do?'” said Monaghan.

“But we will see in the coming races when the downforce levels change at Zandvoort, Monza, Singapore and Azerbaijan if our car can maintain this pace in the various configurations we can run – and then we will know.”

During the summer break Max Verstappen all but put to bed speculation he could leave Red Bull in the near future. Mercedes have made much of the fact their all new power unit in 2026 could be as dominant as the one which powered Lewis Hamilton to six of his seven titles.

Yet Max appears unconcerned when asked about the prospects Red Bull building their own powertrain for the very first time for 2026.

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Max commits to the end of 2026

“How is it going? I’m very confident, but we have to be realistic. We have to fight against people who have been making engines for over a hundred years. They have a lot of experience, but of course we have also signed a lot of people,” he told formula.hu

Verstappen then pretty much commits himself to Red Bull until he can review the success or failure of the Red Bull 2026 car and power train design.

“A lot of things have to stay together or come together and I also have to think about the future, what will happen after 2026. So I am patient.”

In the same interview the world champion revealed his concerns over the continued lack of pace in the RB20. “In the beginning, we could really say that it was track-specific, but I think it’s clear now that no matter what track we go to, we have a hard time everywhere,” he added.

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Brown believes they’ll beat Red Bull

“I would say that we have not been the fastest in the last few races. Yes, it’s a bit harder now.”

With a 78 point lead, Verstappen looks even with just average results by his high standards going forwards, odds on to win this year’s drivers’ title. The Red Bull lead in the constructors is more marginal and Zak Brown believes his McLaren F1 team is in with a shout.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Brown said: “I think it’s going to come down to the last race. There’s not much between the cars. It’s gonna come down to how does Sergio Perez perform?

“If he can perform as he’s capable of performing, it’s going to be a hard fight.

“If he continues to perform as he has this year, we have a pretty good chance, because we have two drivers constantly performing at the front.”

Perez will once again be the focus of attention when F1 returns this weekend. He was granted more time at a big Red Bull pow wow following the start of the summer break.

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Ralph Schumacher leaks WhatsApp messages and calls his ex-wife a ‘liar’

Last month Ralph Schumacher, brother of seven times Formula One world champion Michael revealed to the world that he was gay. Lewis Hamilton came out in support of his fellow racer in Hungary telling assembled media:

“Clearly he has not felt comfortable being able to say it in the past. It is definitely not a new thing.” Schumacher’s sexuality was known in the paddock during his F1 years (1997-2007) so it was somewhat of a surprise when in 2001 he became engaged to Cora-Caroline Brinkman a former model. They married later that year and had a son David just weeks after they tied the knot.

Following the announcement by Ralph on social media, Cora Schumacher opened up over her ex-husband’s coming out but suggested he’d always denied having feelings towards men.. READ MORE