Former F1 driver Martin Brundle feels off-track issues bothering Red Bull during races

The sudden decline in the performance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen has raised a lot of questions about their approach at this critical juncture of the season. It all started from Miami where McLaren challenged Red Bull and Verstappen, as Lando Norris claimed his first F1 victory. 

Two weeks later in Imola, Norris nearly achieved consecutive wins, finishing just three-quarters of a second behind Verstappen. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc won his home race in Monaco, with Verstappen placing sixth, narrowing the points gap between them to 31 championships. 

This has to be Red Bull’s first significant challenge since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced in early 2022. Now, according to former F1 driver and Sky co-commentator Martin Brundle, the pre-season developments are starting to impact the team.

In his column, he wrote, "Ferrari and McLaren are on a fine run, both teams and driver pairings looking very cohesive, focused, and well structured. This means that Red Bull are very much looking in their rear mirrors in both the drivers' and constructors' Championships.” 

“It appears to be game-on with so many races to come. I have no doubt the internal events at Red Bull have detracted from their recent performances, and they'll be desperately keen to resume normal service in Montreal next time out”, he further added. 

“It was a non-event race”, says Martin Brundle

While Brundle was naturally thrilled by Leclerc's historic victory on home ground, he felt disappointed by how the race unfolded after being red-flagged on the first lap due to a major crash involving Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

During the delay, teams were permitted to change their tyres, allowing the leaders to comfortably complete the remaining 77 laps after the restart with their preferred tyre setup. Praising Leclerc's "perfect performance" and "fairytale ending," he also lamented what he considered to be "sadly a non-event of a race."

He further added, "At the best of times, this layout needs an awkwardly timed safety car or red flag, or rain. Better still, all three. The worst-case scenario is a first-lap red flag on a day when two of the three tyre compounds can be massaged into completing the entire 78-lap race distance.”

“Thereby making the best use of the regulations that permit a tyre change during the red flag stoppage, and so enabling everyone to also tick the box for using two different tyre compounds during a dry race. And that's exactly what happened… So, on the second standing start after the red flag, the top ten finished in the same order for the first time in F1 history."