Yesterday at 12:00
Ralf Schumacher has highlighted the severity of the current crisis
at Red Bull, noting that he cannot recall seeing Max Verstappen "so
far back", following his dismal Hungarian Grand Prix. The Dutchman
qualified eighth at the Hungaroring, but despite early promise in
the race, was unable to make progress in his RB21. He finished one
place lower than he started, in ninth. It caps off an underwhelming
first part of the season for Red Bull and its star driver, who sits
a distant third in the F1 drivers' standings. With only 10 rounds
to run, Verstappen is 97 points behind leader Oscar Piastri and
looks all but guaranteed to surrender his crown at the end of the
season, ending his streak of consecutive titles at four. Red Bull,
as was the case for much of 2024, has also flattered to deceive.
The Milton Keynes squad finished third in the constructors'
standings last term but has slumped to fourth in the current
campaign. The drivers in its second seat have struggled throughout.
Liam Lawson was jettisoned from the car after two pointless rounds
and was sent back to Racing Bulls, with Yuki Tsunoda heading in the
opposite direction. However, the Japanese driver has also fallen
short. He has scored just seven points since being parachuted in -
and is scoreless over the last seven rounds. The six-time
constructors' champions fired long-standing team principal
Christian Horner in July, with Laurent Mekies coming in from Racing
Bulls as his replacement, but it will take the Frenchman some time
to steady the ship. When discussing the first part of the season on
Sky Sports Germany's F1 podcast, Backstage Boxengasse , Schumacher
shone a spotlight on Red Bull's damning situation. "The biggest
disappointment of the season, and I mean it from a team
perspective.... People aren't going to like me saying this, but
that really is Red Bull Racing," the six-time grand prix winner
said. "Sure, they started the season okay, but in the meantime,
they have really fallen way back. The obvious low point in that
was, of course, the Hungary Grand Prix," "I can't even remember
when Max Verstappen was so far back, outside of his time at Toro
Rosso." On the other end of the spectrum On the other end of the
scale, the former Jordan, Williams, and Toyota driver picked out
Stake as the biggest "positive surprise" from the opening 14 rounds
of the campaign. "I think Stake F1 is an absolute positive
surprise," the 50-year-old stated. "Before the season we all
thought that would be nothing, that they would finish tenth. "And
now both Nico Hulkenberg, who took his first podium at Silverstone,
and Gabriel Bortoleto are performing excellently. "The Brazilian
rookie makes very few mistakes and radiates calmness," he added
before addressing the dominant McLaren team: "Of course, McLaren
was no surprise, but they have proven in the past to trip over
themselves from time to time."
