Third Grand Prix of the 2024 Formula 1 season this weekend near Adelaide. Max Verstappen can aim for a tenth success in a row.
Unfazed in the midst of the turmoil that continues to shake Red Bull, its reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is aiming for a tenth Grand Prix success in a row this weekend in Australia, which would allow him to equal his record.
On the eve of the third meeting of the season, the Dutchman and his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez have already confirmed the excellent form of the Austrian team, taking the first places after the first two Grands Prix, in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia.
Welcome performances for Red Bull which, undermined by the internal struggles revealed last February by the “Horner affair” – named after team boss Christian Horner, recently weakened by accusations of “inappropriate behavior” towards an employee and since cleared – arouses interest.
At the beginning of March, Jos Verstappen attacked Horner just after his son’s victory in Bahrain, ensuring in particular that there is “tension (in the team) as long as he remains in place. The team risks tearing itself apart. She can’t continue like this.”he had asserted.
A comment which fueled the rumor that Max Verstappen could leave Red Bull as early as 2025, if influential Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko were to leave the team. The Dutchman is contracted until the end of 2028, but would have a clause to leave earlier, according to the press.
“With this contract, my intention is to stay here until the end”tempered Verstappen on Thursday.
Ferrari wants “put pressure” on Red Bull
Several teams, including Mercedes, which has a seat available from 2025 after the departure of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari, are undoubtedly dreaming of securing Verstappen’s services.
“I would love to have it but we need to improve the car first”, underlined the team director, Toto Wolff, at the beginning of March. And for good reason: Mercedes is still seeking to get rid of performance problems, two years after the arrival of new technical regulations.
The team has gradually raised the bar, arriving at the gates of the 2024 vintage full of optimism, but, for the moment, it is still struggling to meet its ambitions.
After two GPs, the German manufacturer has never done better than 5th place, taken in Bahrain by George Russell. The team is currently in 4th place among the constructors, behind Ferrari and McLaren.
Ferrari which currently appears as the “best of the rest” behind Red Bull. Enough to try to rise to the level of the RB20 in Melbourne?
If the Scuderia is banking on a “aggressive approach” in order to “put pressure” on the Red Bulls, “the gap remains significant” in the race, conceded Thursday Charles Leclerc, 3rd in the championship behind Verstappen and Pérez.
“However, we are in a much better situation than last year”also affirmed the Monegasque.
Gasly and Ocon pessimistic
The Spaniard Carlos Sainz, his teammate at Ferrari, must return to his seat this weekend two weeks after his appendicitis operation, on the sidelines of the Saudi Arabian GP.
Winner last year in Australia after a chaotic GP, Verstappen is still logically the favorite this year, such has been his insolent domination in recent years.
If he wins on the Albert Park track on Sunday, «Mad Max» would tie his record for consecutive victories. In 2023, the reigning champion had won ten Grands Prix in a row, breaking the record of the German Sebastian Vettel (9 victories in a row in 2013).
Before the Australian GP, Verstappen already has a 15-point lead over Pérez and 23 over Leclerc.
Behind the strong men of the moment, the Australians Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls) will try to shine in front of their stands. Even if Piastri, 4th in the last GP in Saudi Arabia, concedes: “we will both need a little luck to get on the podium”.
For Alpine, which arrived this season with a brand new car but is currently last in the manufacturers’ standings, the weekend still promises to be difficult for its two French drivers.
“Given the gap (with the other teams, editor’s note) and the lap time that we are currently lacking, we do not expect the position in which we find ourselves to change significantly”recognized Pierre Gasly, who recently became a shareholder of FC Versailles, a football club that plays nationally.
