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After Red Bull’s early-season dominance, we have been treated to thrilling, multi-team scraps at the sharp end for the most part of the 2024 campaign so far, with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all getting themselves in the mix.
If we take the last three races, held at contrasting circuits, different winners emerged from each of them thanks to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes triumphing in Belgium, a charging run from Lando Norris and McLaren in the Netherlands and Charles Leclerc’s emotional victory on Ferrari’s home turf in Italy.
READ MORE: What time is the Formula 1 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and how can I watch it?
It’s been a fascinating sequence with some key takeaways: Red Bull appearing to get confused by their RB20; Ferrari rediscovering some form after a failed batch of updates; Mercedes finally making a breakthrough of sorts; and McLaren being the stable front-runner regardless of the track or conditions.
McLaren’s consistently strong pace, mixed with Red Bull’s struggles, means the Woking-based outfit are now genuine contenders for both world titles – just eight points separating the two teams in the constructors’ standings, and 62 splitting Verstappen and Norris in the drivers’ battle.
Incredibly, Verstappen and Red Bull last tasted victory at the Spanish Grand Prix back in June, some seven races ago, meaning the team will have their work cut out to extend a run of three successive wins in Baku, where Leclerc has also claimed the last three pole positions.
Who will hit the ground running and get the job done this weekend? Thanks to F1’s ultra-competitive and unpredictable nature in 2024, there are several clear candidates to answer that question…
FAN VIEW: The Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are strong contenders for points, as is Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg. RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, and Williams’ Alexander Albon, are also coming in for early support on F1 Play this week.
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