Can Ferrari or Mercedes catch Red Bull’s Max Verstappen?

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.
Formula One in the 21st century has been dominated generationally talented drivers joining hands with constructors that figure out the regulations to produce the best car. Max Verstappen and Red Bull now, in pole position for a third consecutive championship, seem to be on the same path.
Verstappen dominated proceedings last year, winning a single-season record of 15 races, and staying in the lead in the championship since taking it in Spain in May. Now in his maturity at 25, he looks calm, composed, and ruthless on track.
If the Dutchman is to win the first race of the season in Bahrain on Sunday, he would have led the championship for 18 successive races – a landmark achievement that seems on the cards as Red Bull look to have refined what was already an aggressively efficient piece of machinery in pre-season testing.
After a tough start to last season, the challenge for Red Bull was weight dribution. They needed to shed weight, without causing too much understeer which Verstappen famously loathes. They managed to do it brilliantly, but seem to have perfected it ahead of this season.
Testing can, generally, be misleading. Especially given the fact that the teams were only given three days ahead of a 23-race season, the longest in the sport’s hory.
But even the most optimic fans cannot deny that Red Bull and Verstappen are looking ominous for the chasing pack, made up exclusively of Ferrari and Mercedes, who, with Red Bull, held all but one podium place throughout last year despite new regulations and a cost-budget limit that, while improving overtaking and wheel-to-wheel racing, failed to make things more competitive at the top.
Seven-times champion Hamilton will lead the charge for Mercedes after having endured the worst season – and the only winless one – of his career last year. His teammate George Rusell got his debut win and beat him in the championship last year, proving that he is likely to give Hamilton a fight, rather than succumbing to secondary-driver status.
Mercedes look to have fixed the on-track bouncing issues that plagued them for much of last year fixing the suspension and uneven floor of the car, but their lap times in testing have led to speculation that the renewed reliability has led to a sacrifice in pace.
It will then be up to Ferrari, under new team boss Fred Vasseur, to challenge Red Bull and Verstappen. Their primary driver Charles Leclerc had briefly been in the title conversation early last year before his team’s questionable strategy calls and reliability problems, which led to the removal of former boss Mattia Binotto, resulted in him falling away, and eventually limping to second in the championship in a fight with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz grew in confidence last year with a debut win and will hope to be in the mix if his team are up to the task. With Daniel Ricciardo – who lost his seat on the grid last year and is now Red Bull’s reserve driver – breathing down his neck, Perez will also be keen to mount a challenge.
Scuderia on the brink
Despite the challengers though, like last year, realic hopes for a credible title fight rely heavily on Leclerc and Ferrari.
Not even Schumacher was handed a five-year contract at Ferrari like the one Leclerc signed back in 2019. Ferrari have thrown their weight behind the driver, whose ability and easy pace behind the wheel are evident, bringing in Vasseur, who handed Leclerc his F1 debut with Alfa Romeo five years ago.
With scores of fans, the Scuderia are an iconic brand, synonymous with motor racing since its inception, but it has been 16 years since they last won a championship – a truly deplorable record for a team of that size.
Vasseur has his work cut out for him, inheriting a system developed someone else, but less blunders in strategy and a more robust power unit will be the top priority. If he is given competitive machinery, the scrutiny over Leclerc’s potential as a future championship winner will also intensify. Consency in qualifying and error-free racing will become the bare minimum expectation, and it should be intriguing to see how both he and Vasseur deal with the pressure.
Among the ‘best of the rest’, it is Aston Martin and their new driver Fernando Alonso, that have turned heads with their pace in pre-season testing. The 41-year-old veteran has built a legendary reputation of extracting as much as he can from ordinary machinery, but if pre-season is any indicator, Aston Martin are looking quick.
Alonso’s qualifying laps tend to be as explosive as his statements off the track, and if the team can provide him competitive machinery, it will be cause for excitement for fans across the board. An exciting midfield battle, with a legendary driver like Alonso leading it, would be huge if the competition at the top dries up again.