F1 News
Wolff left impressed by McLaren's performance: 'Annihilated the competiton'
- Cas van de Kleut
McLaren has made giant development strides in 2024. This was already evident in recent race weekends, but at Zandvoort, the British team beat Red Bull Racing significantly, winning by a difference of more than 22 seconds. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff spoke to GPblog and others about McLaren's impressive performance after the Dutch Grand Prix.
Red Bull Racing's dominance would clearly come to an end one day, but many didn't expect it to happen so quickly after such an incredible year in 2023. McLaren found speed after doing upgrades, while Max Verstappen increasingly experienced problems with his RB20. At Zandvoort, McLaren dealt a huge blow to Red Bull, beating Verstappen in his home race by a big margin.
Wolff: 'Norris annihilated the competition'
Wolff therefore thinks the battle for the constructors' championship is not yet over: "McLaren has proven in the past that since Austria last year they brought upgrades to the car that landed spot on. And that was just very impressive to see today. I mean, he's basically annihilated all of the competition with that fast lap
at the end with a 42-lap old hard. 20 seconds in the gap. So, I think this championship, the Constructor Championship is wide open in my opinion and that's good for Formula 1." Wolff explained
Are Verstappen's title chances in jeopardy?
In the constructors' championship, the difference is now just 30 points. In the drivers' championship, the difference between Verstappen and Norris is a lot bigger at 70 points. Wolff therefore states, "The Driver Championship, I think, Max has a certain degree as under control still. But it will be exciting to see whether there is a change of power," Wolff said.
Wolff also hopes Mercedes can still play a role in the championship battle: "We were able in the last few races and I think if we would have had a car that was about normal where would we have ended up? I don't think we would have beaten Norris, but maybe we would have had a little bit more exciting position." He concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon
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