F1 News
'Max and Red Bull really never thought they were already champions'
- Ludo van Denderen
It can go that fast. After the Miami Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing seemed well on their way to extending their reign as the constructors' championships. In the last two races, Ferrari have managed to catch up considerably, with the difference currently 'only' 24 points. Is the title suddenly realistic for Ferrari?
Fred Vasseur, the team boss of the Italian team, is keeping a lid on it for now. "First, I never said that Red Bull was champion after six races. And I won't say today that it won't be the case. We have still 16 races to go. Probably you can still score 500 points until the end. It means that nothing is done in one direction or the other. But I'm sure that Red Bull and Max never considered that they were already champions."
According to Vasseur, no team thinks too lightly about becoming a champion. "It's probably part of the game that you need always to do more, to push more. I'm convinced that Red Bull are not in the control zone," stated the Frenchman.
Have Ferrari equalised with Red Bull?
Nor does Vasseur want to say that Ferrari is now equal to Red Bull. "Well, if you have a look at the last three or four races, Miami, Imola, this one, Melbourne, I think we had one in between, we had everybody in one-tenth, even on the long run, because in Miami we did 40 laps to finish two seconds behind Max, and Imola it was 36 laps for six seconds.
"I think now we have at least three teams, with Mercedes not far away, able to fight for the pole position, able to fight for the win. It's exciting and it will be, I hope, like this until the end of the season. For sure, depending from track to track, we'll have perhaps Red Bull with an advantage, or Ferrari, or McLaren and we'll have to be opportunistic. But the fight will be tight."