F1 championship-leader Oscar Piastri let slip how he feels about Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
One race, the Hungarian Grand Prix, remains before the F1 summer break, and the Constructors’ Championship is all but decided. McLaren are 268 points ahead of second-placed Ferrari with just under half the season to go.
| Position | Constructors' Standings | Points |
| 1 | McLaren Racing | 516 |
| 2 | Scuderia Ferrari | 248 |
| 3 | Mercedes-AMG Petronas | 220 |
| 4 | Red Bull Racing | 192 |
Red Bull’s Verstappen is third in the Drivers’ standings after winning the Sprint Race at Spa, but his team are down in fourth. Their second seat problems have also cost them the Constructors’ title last season, and Piastri let slip how he feels about their situation.
Oscar Piastri names threats to McLaren, but leaves out one key driver
McLaren have looked untouchable in recent weeks. Piastri and Lando Norris have battled it out at Silverstone and Spa with little competition, and they look set to record McLaren’s 200th F1 win this weekend.
Piastri was asked if the championship was now a two-horse race between him and Norris, and he said that there are drivers who can challenge McLaren from week to week. But he missed out one key name.
The Aussie said, “The last few weekends, it’s been Lando and I. I expect our competition to still be strong and put up a good fight, especially at certain tracks through the rest of the year, but whether that comes from Max, or Ferrari or Mercedes, or someone else, maybe, we never really know.”
Piastri named Ferrari and Mercedes as teams that could be a threat to McLaren, but only one driver from the Red Bull garage. It’s interesting that even the paddock now sees Red Bull as a one-driver team.
Red Bull’s second seat problems are well-documented, but Tsunoda showed improvement last weekend. He defended his performances in the lead-up to Hungary.
Yuki Tsunoda says he doesn’t want to be compared with Max Verstappen
Tsunoda’s pace in Spa was promising, even though he finished outside of the points due to a poor strategy call. He was only three tenths off Verstappen in qualifying to line up seventh.
But the Japanese driver said he doesn’t want to be compared to his teammate. He explained, “I don’t want to directly compare with him, because he’s been here nine years in that car. Also, let’s see if I get exactly the same car.”
Spa saw signs of change in Red Bull’s approach to their second seat. They had the choice to give Tsunoda the new upgraded floor or keep one as a spare for Verstappen. The team elected to give the floor to both drivers.
That was the first indication of the Laurent Mekies era beginning at Red Bull. The recently fired Christian Horner perhaps wouldn’t have issued Tsunoda the upgrade.
Verstappen’s car still isn’t exactly the same as Tsunoda’s, hence his comments, but there are signs of an increased equality between the pair.