Hill names why McLaren were able to catch Red Bull: 'Took a while, but...'
F1 News
For the first time since 2022, Red Bull are not leading the constructors' championship standings. Things have been not going well at the Austrian team, with the last win dating back to 23 June. Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, understands why Red Bull were overtaken by McLaren.
"They've hit the ceiling with regards to wind tunnel time and computer fluid dynamics and all the rest of it that they're limited on," the former Formula 1 driver began in Sky Sports' F1 podcast. "I think, is showing itself to be bringing up the teams that can catch up and giving us some fantastic racing. In some ways the regs have proved their success more quickly, perhaps, than we expected," the wormer world champion continued.
As Red Bull became constructors' champion last season, the team may spend less time in the wind tunnel this year. "It's been a few years, but it's slowly starting to take effect, which is good. Obviously, that will mean the more successful McLaren are now, the more they're going to be handicapped next year.," Hill said.
As things stand
Following Sergio Perez's crash with Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Red Bull have been overtaken in the standings by McLaren. The current gap between the two stands at 20 points. In terms of the drivers' standings, Max Verstappen still leads Lando Norris by 59 points. There are seven Grands Prix weekends to go in the 2024 season.
This article was written in collaboration with Estéban den Toom
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