75 Year Old F1 Mogul Joins Helmut Marko to Sound Doomsday Alarm for Max Verstappen & Co.

Red Bull Racing has smashed and made all records possible in 2023. With a win in 16 of the 17 races this year, the racing outfit has truly given wings to its chassis. With an early constructors’ title in the Japanese Grand Prix, the bid for the drivers’ title closed during the first lap of the sprint at the Lusail International Circuit. Max Verstappen won his third championship in Formula 1. However, a new phenomenon is blowing sand off the tracks – the raw speed of McLaren and the closing gap to Red Bull that could end the dominant streak of the Austrian Outfit.

Ever since the British Grand Prix, McLaren has been eating through the gap. Unlike the Ferraris and Mercedes, they have managed to pull out the best tricks from their factory in Woking. From barely finishing in points pre-summer break to back-to-back podiums in the last two races, a new contender is emerging and everyone is watching with eager eyes.

Max Verstappen has a new competition from the back of the grid

The Saturday Sprint saw a new face on the first step of the podium. Winning ahead of Max Verstappen is a feat in itself, albeit a rookie. In his orange McLaren, Oscar Piastri raced like a driver with years of experience. F1 presenters, fans, and analysts were all mesmerized by the young rookie’s performance. Eddie Jordan, former boss of the Jordan F1 team shares this school of thought.

The 75-year-old business mogul has shown his support for Piastri. In an interview earlier during the year he claimed that the young Australian would be a good teammate to Verstappen. However, with the recent strong performance of McLaren, he is sure that Red Bull‘s almost loss-less streak is nearing its close. He told TalkSPORT, “McLaren at the moment and Oscar Piastri is just fabulous and he is the only real one that I can see emerging that could take it to Verstappen in years to come.” 

Similar to the F1 masses he confessed, “And let’s hope that happens because for a young kid, rookie of the year, to come in and win that Sprint Race on Saturday and finish second on Sunday was simply staggering.” 

Helmut Marko has been sounding the alarms regarding the McLaren updates for weeks now. He told Kronen Zeitung after the Qatar Grand Prix, “We set our pace according to McLaren. It’s scary that it happens on every circuit now. They are our most consistent pursuers and they’re still gaining. It could be a tough battle next year.” He believes McLaren is faster than Verstappen in fast corners and that a potential threat for the upcoming races is looming.

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McLaren is a rising phoenix

The British Outfit has been closing the gap with Red Bull. It is among the strongest contenders for the coming year. Both the drivers have scored back-to-back podiums. In Suzuka, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took the checkered flag P2 and P3 respectively. During the Qatar Grand Prix, they swapped the results. In the Singapore weekend, where Verstappen failed to make Q3, Norris finished behind the race winner Carlos Sainz.

The British constructors are the only ones to make significant strides towards closing the gap to Red Bull. The qualifying sessions are spiced up by the show put on by the fiery McLarens and the angry Bull of Max Verstappen. During the Qatar Grand Prix and the sprint, the three drivers were topping each other’s fastest laps. Despite the harsh conditions of the weekend race, the show was arguably the most entertaining one throughout the season albeit the Singapore Grand Prix which saw a different race winner altogether.

Now chasing Aston Martin, who have lately imploded, the Surrey-based Outfit is 11 points behind. With 6 Grand Prix’ and 2 sprint races to go, it is a matter of time before the McLaren boots out AMR from fourth in the constructors’

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To see McLaren come this far, and provide a change of pace and face on the podium is thrilling. Red Bull’s development has been kept quite under wraps and speculations about the next year’s cars are making a whirlwind. It would be interesting to watch the two best friends and an Australian rookie battle it out for their orange-papaya armies.