McLaren boss predicts Red Bull 'fractures' as wins dry up 

McLaren boss Zak Brown has predicted fractures to appear at Red Bull once the wins start drying up. The Austrian team has been on a roll in the ground effect era. The team fought a year-long battle in 2021 against Mercedes, only for Max Verstappen to prevail on the last lap of the season.

From 2022 onwards, things have been more or less smooth. Max Verstappen went on to comfortably win the drivers title that season, and Red Bull also broke its eight-year drought. The 2023 F1 season saw the team take its dominance to a whole new level. It lost only one race all year when Carlos Sainz won in Singapore.

The 2024 F1 season has, however, turned everything on its head. The season began with Christian Horner being investigated for inappropriate behavior with a Red Bull employee. It was followed by a very public political battle that saw Horner on one side while long-time aid Helmut Marko and Max Verstappen were on the other side.

To make things worse, Red Bull has been caught in terms of performance by its competitors. Other than Max Verstappen, five drivers have won a race this season. Zak Brown's driver, Lando Norris, is also one of them, as he helped McLaren win the race in Miami.

Talking recently to the media, including RacingNews365, Brown weighed in on Red Bull's dynamics and said that the team's instability will get exposed as the success dries up. He said:

“I think the turmoil will have more of a mid to longer-term impact. This car was done last year, what they’re racing now was done when everything was fine. I think it's more of 2026, when you got a new engine coming, what's going on with the driver front, I think that's where you potentially are going to see the lack of stability that appears to be there maybe coming through a little bit."

He added:

“Winning holds things together and as that becomes more of a challenge for them, I think that’s when you might see some more fractures in various relationships inside that camp.”

McLaren boss gives his take on why Red Bull has been caught

Zak Brown gave his take on why McLaren has caught up with Red Bull. He explained that the Austrian team was initially able to take advantage of the fact that it figured out the regulations earlier than everyone else. However, the team appears to have reached the end of its development curve already, and hence rivals are catching up.

On this, Brown said:

“My opinion as opposed to fact, I think they got to terminal velocity, if you'd like, quicker than the rest of us. And there does come a point of diminishing returns as far as just how much you can continue to develop a car. I think, credit to them, they got their first and now we're all caught up or almost caught up.”

There is certainly no doubt at this stage that the Austrian team is facing pressure from multiple teams. Even Mercedes is currently on a two-race win streak, and McLaren is not the only threat. Could the drop in performance impact the team long-term? It will be interesting to see if that really happens.