Red Bull started the 2024 season in style by taking five wins from the opening seven races, but that’s been reduced to just two in the last seven as McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all put pressure on the reigning world champions, who will soon lose stalwarts Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley from their ranks. Here’s a review of the team’s latest title defence with 14 of 24 scheduled races completed…
Best finish
Max Verstappen – 1st in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Imola, Canada and Spain
Amid plenty of noise off the track, Red Bull’s start to 2024 was almost faultless on it, with Max Verstappen picking up where he left off at the end of last year and leaving most of his rivals fearing a relatively trouble-free run to what would be a fourth successive title.
Indeed, the Dutchman stamped his authority over the first half of the opening half, winning five times in seven races and having a case for that tally being even bigger – a brake failure in Australia and an ill-timed Safety Car period in Miami costing him shots at further glory.
However, amid a more challenging run that started in Monaco, which highlighted Red Bull’s ongoing weakness at tight, twisty tracks, Verstappen has picked up ‘only’ two more wins, thanks to McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all becoming genuine threats at the sharp end.
