Max Verstappen has slashed the championship deficit to Oscar Piastri to 69 factors now because the Crimson Bull driver picked up his second consecutive win in Baku. The reigning champion, armed with an upgraded Crimson Bull, has been a drive to take care of, because the automobile’s new flooring has handed him a considerable benefit over McLaren in particular situations.
Whereas that’s the case, we’re taking a look at a 69-point deficit to Oscar Piastri with solely 7 races left. If the driving force can overcome the deficit and win the championship, this may simply be one of many best seasons in F1 historical past. That brings us to the primary query. Ought to Max Verstappen be thought-about a title contender now? Let’s have a look.
The situations during which Max Verstappen has gained
First, we should see the place Max Verstappen has gained not too long ago. The motive force was dominant in Monza and in Baku, and on a floor degree, they do give the impression that these tracks are low-downforce heavens. In essence, sure, they’re.
If we’re speaking about tracks like Monza, you could have good low-downforce effectivity. On the identical time, nonetheless, if we’re speaking about Baku, that is not essentially only a monitor with low downforce effectivity, because the second sector is nearly solely a slow-speed twisty part the place the calls for are fully totally different.
Therefore, the Crimson Bull may doubtlessly have a automobile that’s simply good on the straights, it’s no slouch within the slow-speed sections both.
Out of the final 7 races the place can we assure a aggressive Crimson Bull?
It’s a exhausting query to deal with as a result of we’re nonetheless undecided how the upgraded flooring works on tracks that require the next downforce. With that being stated, one could be relaxation assured that the tracks with the longer straights and requiring a decrease downforce setup are going to favor Crimson Bull.
We will anticipate Max Verstappen to be a critical contender for the win on tracks like Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. On the identical time, one may doubtlessly anticipate a aggressive Crimson Bull at Austin and Brazil as nicely.
The features that Crimson Bull has made
One of many issues that stands out for Crimson Bull is the magnitude of enchancment proven by the automobile over a 12-month interval. The staff had arguably two of its worst races in Monza and Baku final season, and this time across the automobile regarded exponentially higher on these tracks.
If Max Verstappen, who had two of his worst races in 2024 at Monza and Baku, turns round and wins them, what can one anticipate from the driving force on tracks the place he was comparatively aggressive final season? If you’re a fan of his, that is treasured and would offer you extra confidence in what’s attainable in that automobile.
The litmus take a look at
In all equity, the litmus take a look at for a possible title marketing campaign goes to be how Max Verstappen fares at Singapore. If the Dutch driver is robust sufficient and aggressive sufficient to place up a battle in opposition to the McLarens, then this championship battle may simply be on. If he does, nonetheless, wrestle, it should be very exhausting to eat into the 69-point deficit that he has to Oscar Piastri.
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Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli
