World Championship fight in Formula 1: duel or all-round competition? / Formula 1

The year started well for the Red Bull Racing team. Max Verstappen won four of the first five races of the season, and his teammate Sergio Pérez always finished on the podium in each of the two showdowns. But the tide has now turned, and since the race in Austria McLaren has scored more points than Red Bull Racing every time, and Ferrari has also made strong gains, celebrating more World Championship points than any other team in the most recent GP in Monza.

In the constructors' championship, the world champion team's opponents are not many points away from taking the lead. And in the drivers' championship, Lando Norris is also getting closer and closer to defending champion Max Verstappen. This plays into the hands of the Dutchman from the Red Bull Racing Team: The traditional racing team has so far refrained from helping Norris in the battle for the world championship by issuing team orders.

That could change, writes Martin Brundle in his analysis on Skysports.com. He sums up: “There are still eight race weekends left this year, including three sprints where additional points will be awarded.” Norris is still 62 points behind Verstappen in the drivers' championship. The gap could have been 52 if McLaren had insisted that Piastri give up his position in each of the recent races.

“They decided against it because they didn't want to and they also had the feeling that Norris doesn't necessarily want to win the world championship by having a compliant backup at his side. But I'm excited to see what we'll see if they really want to put pressure on Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen,” added the GP veteran.

“The constructors' championship is a different story when you consider that McLaren has moved back to just eight points from Red Bull Racing.” But Ferrari is now only 39 points behind the leaders and if you look at the current balance of power, everything points to a top battle between Ferrari and McLaren. “We can still look forward to an exciting end to this season,” the 65-year-old Briton is sure.

Italian GP, ​​Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

01. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:14:40.727 h
02. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +2,664 seconds
03. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +6.153
04. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +15,621
05. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +22,820
06. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, +37.932
07. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +39,715
08. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +54.148
09. Alex Albon (T), Williams, +1:07.456 min
10. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +1:08.302
11. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +1:08.495
12. Franco Colapinto (RA), Williams, +1:21.308
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bulls, +1:33.452
14. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +1 lap
15. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +1
16. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Clean, +1
17. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +1
18. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Clean, +1
19. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +1
Out of
Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, collision damage

World Championship standings (after 15 of 24 Grands Prix and 3 of 6 sprints)

driver
01. Verstappen 303 points
02. Norris241
03. Leclerc217
04. Piastri 197
05.Sainz184
06. Hamilton164
07. Perez 143
08. Russell128
09. Alonso-50
10. Walk 24
11. Hulkenberg 22
12. Tsunoda22
13. Ricciardo12
14. Gasly-8
15. Oliver Bearman (GB) 6
16. Magnussens 6
17. Albon6
18. Ocon 5
19. Zhou-0
20. Logan Sargeant (USA) 0
21. Bottas-0
22. Colapinto 0

Constructors' Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 446 points
02. McLaren 438
03. Ferrari407
04. Mercedes-Benz 292
05. Aston-Martin 74
06. Racing Bulls 34
07. Haas-28
08. Alpine 13
09. Williams 6
10. Clean 0