Ex-F1 driver claims Red Bull is at ‘high risk of falling into mediocrity’ after baffling 2024 start

Red Bull is leading the 2024 Constructors Championship by only a margin of 24 points.

Ex-F1 driver claims Red Bull is at ‘high risk of falling into mediocrity’ after baffling 2024 start

Max Verstappen, Helmut Marko, and Christian Horner (Via: Imago)

The Red Bull F1 team has finally got a mighty challenge in front of them during the ground-effect era. Since 2022 the outfit has been dominating, but ever since the last 3-4 races, the balance of power has started to shift away from Christian Horner and co.

After eight rounds, the Milton-Keynes-based team is leading both the Championships, but the gap to rivals is not huge. Ferrari is only 24 points behind in the Constructors Championship and Charles Leclerc is also right on the heels of Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ tussle.

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Seeing the rise in performance of rivals amidst the issues that Red Bull has been facing, ex-F1 driver, Ralf Schumacher feels the Austrian outfit is on a tightrope.

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[It's] all well and good when you win. And that's the dangerous thing about Formula1... Red Bull is really at high risk of falling into mediocrity at the moment. I thought 2026 mediocre sounded hard, but it's already hard this year.
Ralf Schumacher said in an interview with Formel1.de

Looking at the reaction of the former racing driver, it is quite clear that Red Bull is going to have a hard time staying ahead of the pack. The RB20 has not proved extremely mighty and this along with the improvements of McLaren and Ferrari, has led to a tight battle for the championship this year.

Max Verstappen still in line for a shock Mercedes switch?

While Ralf Schumacher has indicated that Red Bull needs to get its act together, he has also talked about the ever-bubbling Max Verstappen – Mercedes saga. The German genuinely feels that if things fall apart within the team, Verstappen will not take long to move elsewhere on the grid.

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen(via IMAGO)

Mercedes’ Toto Wolff has been hell-bent on roping in the Dutchman for the 2025 season.

Max Verstappen will be looking for the best car. And one thing is also clear: at the moment it's not the Red Bull. I think that's a problem, a big problem. And if they don't get to grips with it, then Max will pull the ripcord at some point.
Ralf Schumacher said in the same interview

Max Verstappen is the hottest property at the pinnacle of motor racing. Red Bull has a contract with him until the end of 2028, but if things don’t go well this year, the contracts can be torn apart. The Milton-Keynes-based team is going to be in the limelight throughout 2024 for varied reasons.

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