Max Verstappen Moves Past Mercedes Rivalry to Recognize New Challenger to Red Bull’s Dominance

Credits: IMAGO / PanoramiC

Mercedes and Red Bull shared some brilliant championship battles in the last one and a half decades. Even though they were not always the championship protagonists, they claimed the last 14 championships and took their names to a great height. However, as time has changed, so has the position of these two teams. While Red Bull is still at the top, Mercedes is no longer their only challenger. Max Verstappen, the star driver of the Austrian team, recently shed light on this and hailed Ferrari as their new competitor for this season and probably the next.

“In general, yes, Ferrari is our real, great rival. Until now, it has been,” said the Dutch driver as per Motorsport Italy. “Both Ferrari drivers are fast, so it depends on who can be consistent throughout the season, regarding who between Leclerc and Sainz will be our biggest threat.”

In the ground effect era, which was reintroduced in F1 in 2022, Ferrari started as a strong team. But Adrian Newey’s Red Bull eclipsed them later in the season. Despite this, Ferrari kept themselves in contention in 2023 and 2024; the Prancing Horse is right back to being the only true contender against Verstappen.

Moreover, Carlos Sainz is the only non-Red Bull driver to win races since George Russell in 2022. The Spaniard displayed a valiant performance in the 2023 Singapore GP and 2024 Australian GP.

With an improved SF-24 in 2024 that boasts better race pace, improved straight-line speed, and less tire degradation, the Italian giants are all set to give Red Bull’s RB20 a run for their money, unlike Mercedes and their W15.

Ferrari’s rise saw Mercedes’ fall

As Ferrari kept improving, it was the other way around for Mercedes. The Silver Arrows’ downward spiral has not stopped since 2022, and they hit a new low in 2024. Toto Wolff’s team could only register one win in two and a half seasons, and that’s shambolic, to say the least, as per their standards.

To come out at the top of the 2022 regulations, Mercedes came to the track with a bold zero side-pod concept. And even though it did not work out for them, the Silver Arrows engineers remained adamant with their concept and set the team further back in development. This resulted in poor outcomes for their drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Sadly, their downward spiral has continued in the current season.

After misunderstanding their concept in 2022, the Brackley-based team took plenty of time to fix it. They introduced a new concept for W14, but it also had issues, including poor balance and an unstable rear. Hamilton openly criticized these flaws, but the engineers didn’t pay much attention to his comments.

Following the consistently poor results, Hamilton announced his shock move to Ferrari before the 2024 season started. The 7x champion shocked not only his rivals but also his team boss Toto Wolff.