The last two Formula One seasons have been dominated by Red Bull and Max Verstappen. The introduction of new regulations with ground-effect cars has made the Milton Keynes team the absolute benchmark. This year’s statistics show that Red Bull has won every race and lost only one in the last 12 months.
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari have been the closest rivals, yet the Monegasque driver believes that Red Bull will continue its dominance until 2026. Here are his comments ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix.
During the media session at the Zandvoort circuit located in the dunes north of Zandvoort, the Netherlands, near the North Sea coast line, the Monegasque he was asked if any rival could catch up to them. However, Charles Leclerc’s response wasn’t optimistic.
“That’s what we’re trying to work for, but they certainly have a very wide margin,” he said. “It’s going to be very, very difficult to catch them before the regulation change.”
The RB19 and RB18 have won 29 out of 34 GPs since 2022, with the remaining wins going to Leclerc (3), Sainz (1), and Russell (1). Although he managed to get closer to the RB19 in qualifying in Baku, Charles Leclerc admitted that their advantage widens during the race.
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“It’s different from the past, because in qualifying we’re all much closer,” – the Monegasque driver explained.
“Usually, when we see a team dominating, they do it both in qualifying and in the race. But now, for some reason with Red Bull, it’s more in the race than in qualifying – the gaps are much bigger in the race than in qualifying, and that’s why we’re all working on our race pace because Red Bull is far ahead. There’s still a lot of work to be done. We have some developments in the upcoming races that can help us make progress. But even with this car, we can have some unexpected surprises, because these machines are so sensitive that a small change can have a big impact. We hope that’s the case for us as well.”
Ferrari’s Team Principal, Frederic Vasseur, stated this week to the media, including F1inGenerale, that he’s carrying out aggressive recruitment in the technical division to improve performance. Furthermore, Charles Leclerc admits that his team still needs time to close the gap with the champions.
“We already have some very, very talented engineers within the team. I believe the new people will help us have different points of view and grow even more,” – the Monegasque concluded ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.
Source: f1ingenerale
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