TECH WEEKLY: Red Bull’s F1 stranglehold is loosening – and Barcelona will be a key battleground for McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes

It was in Miami where the first signs emerged that Red Bull’s stranglehold of F1 might be loosening. Although Lando Norris needed the help of the safety car to defeat Max Verstappen’s Red Bull there, the McLaren was conclusively the fastest car in the race.

It needed the safety car help simply because it hadn’t qualified well. “The pace Lando had on the medium tyres was insane,” Verstappen recounted after the race. “I couldn’t have done those times.”