McLaren and Ferrari can finally compete for the F1 World title again

Those who tuned their television to Formula 1 for the first time in 2021 may have a somewhat romantic idea of what an F1 season could be like. Over the years, there have been few seasons where two teams and two drivers have been so closely matched, let alone be engaged in a title battle until the last race of the season.

This was evident again in 2022. There, Ferrari started well, but Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen had it much better than Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. Ferrari made a number of mistakes as a team, and Leclerc certainly wasn't blame-free either. This ensured that the title was decided early in the year despite a dramatic start for Verstappen.

How Red Bull dominated Formula 1

In 2023, the competition provided even less of a battle. Red Bull managed to step forward, winning 21 out of 22 Grands Prix. Ferrari, which started so competitively in 2022, clearly missed out. So the only form of competition came from Sergio Perez, but he could not challenge Verstappen over a full season.

At the end of 2023, Ferrari and McLaren did get closer to Red Bull Racing. McLaren won a sprint race in Qatar, and Ferrari won the Singapore Grand Prix. Ferrari also managed to secure three of the last five pole positions.

However, everyone knew that Red Bull Racing had long since stopped developing the RB19. Their eyes had been on the RB20 for some time in order to start again with a head start in early 2024. That leap forward the team made in winter was not possible for Ferrari and McLaren. After all, they worked on that year's car until the end of 2023.

Yet by early 2024, the competition was surprised by how big a leap Red Bull Racing had made. Fernando Alonso claimed that 19 other drivers already knew that Max Verstappen would become world champion after the first day of the winter test. Drivers from all of Red Bull's other competitors could only agree.

The Bahrain Grand Prix seemed to confirm that view, but throughout 2024, the competition started to believe more and more in their chances. In Australia, Verstappen retired with problems, but that weekend Ferrari were very strong. In Miami, McLaren managed to put Red Bull under pressure. Lando Norris was helped by the timing of the safety car, but Oscar Piastri managed to keep up with Verstappen even before the safety car, with only half the updates. Norris was the fastest man on the track even before the safety car.

Red Bull and Verstappen are beatable

In Imola, then, the atmosphere in the paddock was very different from a few weeks back. The competition believes they can win races again. In Imola, they narrowly missed out. The reason: a phenomenal Max Verstappen who proved to be more than worth his money. He squeezed the maximum out of the RB20 and only just stayed ahead of the McLarens. The Red Bull seemed far from the fastest car in Imola, as proved in the hands of Sergio Perez.

Therefore, after the Grand Prix, a positive atmosphere prevailed, especially at McLaren. The team had a chance of winning two races in a row. In Miami, it worked out well; in Imola, they fell just short. Another chance follows in Monaco, and Canada is traditionally not a track where Red Bull perform as well as they can. So, there are plenty of chances for the competition to make it exciting.

It will be difficult for Norris and Leclerc to challenge Verstappen for the world title right away. The Dutchman has a sizeable lead and rarely makes mistakes. However, they could reduce the pressure and try adding more wins to their record. After all, Verstappen does appear to be beatable.

The battle for the world championship among drivers does lie wide open. Apart from Verstappen's DNF in Australia, Perez has missed points too often. The driver duos at Ferrari and McLaren are closer together.

As pointed out at the start of the weekend, Verstappen will just keep doing his thing. Even in Imola, he did not succumb to the pressure and was not at fault. Max was never responsible for the lack of excitement for victory. That blame lay with the competitors. Now that they have finally found the connection, some really nice battles will follow, and Leclerc, Norris, Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri will have to start proving whether they can battle Verstappen over a longer period.