As the Formula One circus trundled beyond the Ural mountains into Asia, expectations were that McLaren would clinch the constructors’ championship, needing to score just nine points more than Ferrari. Yet the weekend was not to be another papaya celebration as the wheels came off the previously impressive racing team from Woking.
The conditions were indeed most difficult during qualifying as unusually five world class drivers hit the wall causing a record six red flags in the session. Once again Ferrari suffered from strategic muddled thinking as Hamilton complained he was given the wrong tyres for his final runs in Q2 and the car was a lap short on fuel.
To make matters worse it was Charles Leclerc who was the first top driver to misjudge his speed and hit the wall in turn 15, meaning the red cars would start the Grand Prix from their lowest combined position of the season.
Piastri third in all time F1 list
Minutes after the shower of red carbon fibre, flatliner Oscar Piastri was to follow Leclerc’s example. The Australian has become famed for his unemotional approach to racing and his consistency has been remarkable for a driver with such experience proven by the fact his previous 34 consecutive points finishes saw him third on the all time list of F1 drivers.
That record was shattered on lap one of the Grand Prix when having flunked the start he was plumb last going into turn one. He made two places up before the fateful turn three came back to bite him. He misjudged his braking point and his inexperience of racing at the back of the pack saw the dirty air from cars ahead catch him out.
The result? Verstappen wins back to back races with his grand slam victory in Baku and now 69 points behind the Australian championship leader all talk of a remarkable comeback fills the sports papers.
McLaren boss ‘very worried’
Even prior to the Grand Prix on the shores of the Caspian Sea, McLaren team boss Andreas Stella remarkably warned that Verstappen remains firmly in the title hunt. “A firm yes. Can you write it capital [letters]? First of all, he’s Max Verstappen -world champion for the last four years. In a fast car.”
McLaren are concerned that Red Bull have found a silver bullet in their Monza floor upgrade and given Yuki Tsunoda almost doubled his points for the season with the new component in Baku, something radical has happened to the previously lack lustre RB21.
The tracks in Monza and Baku were predicted to be more Red Bull friendly, where their car has proven previously it is quick in low downforce mode and is slippery through the air on the long straights. Yet the warning bells were sounded by Stella, who suggest his team’s analysis of the RB21 proved its capabilities were stronger in other areas.
RB21 good everywhere?
“We have already seen in Monza that they improved, because the way they won Monza was something more, in our assessment, than simply a car that adapts well at low drag. They were fast in the corners, medium speed and low speed corners, fast in the straights, and we know that Max, when he has a competitive car, can deliver strong weekends.”
In practice at both circuits Verstappen had complained over the radio about his car bottoming out, which suggests Red Bull are running the car much lower than before the underfloor upgrade. This delivers a huge downforce advantage in every track configuration, something which will be tested to the extreme come the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore.
Singapore delivers more peril in the guise of the concrete walls and the relentless nature of the circuit and the intense heat is a test for every driver. Given Piastri’s penchant for engaging with the barriers in Baku, his confidence to push 100% will clearly have been knocked.
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The maths for a Verstappen title win
The Australian remains favourite for the championship despite his reduced advantage over his team mate remaining at 25 points. Verstappen’s task is far greater with the deficit at 69, so how does the maths stack up for those who believe the greatest ever F1 comeback is on the cards? There remain 199 points available, although the RB21 2.0 has not proven to be the relentless winner as was its 2023 predecessor.
Were Max to claim each and every one of those points and Piastri finish second in the seven Grand Prix and second in each of the three remaining Sprint’s – Max would fall short by 17 points. Add into the equation that the RB19 which won all but one race failed to deliver in the round ahead in Singapore.
Realistically it would require Piastri to have one more disastrous weekend, yet if the luck were to even itself out he is yet to suffer an unreliability DNF as has his team mate Norris. Were Verstappen to overhaul 69 points to claim a record fifth consecutive title, it would be the biggest comeback in the history of Formula One.
Yet assuming Oscar does have a failure and that the all new RB21 2.0 is as good as its predecessor there is precedent even in the modern era of F1, and its 25 points for a win scoring system if we look back to Lewis Hamilton in 2014.
Hamilton sets historic precedent
Hamilton won six of the remaining seven Grand Prix that year and his team mate Nico Rosberg remained in the fight when the lights went out in Abu Dhabi. Yet electrical failures on Rosberg’s car cruelly struck.
Just two seconds behind the British driver, Rosberg reported a loss of power to the team, to be told his ERS had failed and his title hopes were over. Verstappen his capable given the car to win six or even the seven races remaining, his dominance in Monza and Baku were a sight to behold.
Further, Verstappen just completed his sixth grand chelm in Azerbaijan and now sits level with Hamilton in the all time list with six. Claiming pole, winning the race, leading every lap and putting in the quickest lap is a rare feat – only Jim Clarke with 8 has more.
Could this display of dominance be the key to an incredible season run in? McLaren’s Andreas Stella is clearly most concerned – and he is a man of numbers and data.
Hamilton set to lose a title in $82m court case?
Felipe Massa has reignited one of Formula One’s darkest controversies by formally launching legal action over the scandal of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, which is widely remembered as “Crashgate”. The Brazilian driver, who narrowly missed out on the world championship that year, is suing the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Formula One Management and former Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Massa is seeking around $82 million in compensation, arguing that the integrity of the sport was compromised and that he was denied a fair chance of winning the title.
The case is expected to reach the High Court in London in October, marking a significant development in a case that has been ongoing for years…. READ MORE
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