Max Verstappen captured his 18th win in 21 races this year in Las Vegas. The Red Bull Racing driver has been unbeatable in recent months, but Ralf Schumacher predicts that the victories will slow down. According to the former Formula 1 driver, the other teams are getting closer and closer to the RB19's level.
"Red Bull is coming under a bit of pressure," Schumacher told Sky's German branch . "The teams have moved closer. That makes it exciting. We only have one race to go [in Abu Dhabi], but I'm looking forward to that."
That Red Bull sees the competition approaching a bit more is not necessarily cause for concern. In fact, from the second half of the season, updates have hardly been introduced, whereas the other race teams have continued to develop for longer. Red Bull's sights were on 2024 early on, and they can reap the benefits of that next year.
Record Hamilton
The 26-year-old Verstappen now stands at 53 victories in Formula 1 after last weekend. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has 50 more, at 103 in total. Will Verstappen manage to take this record away from Hamilton?
"In terms of age and talent, [it is] definitely possible. One question is: does he want to keep driving for so long? And the other: does he always have such a good car? I think that will be the case next year. Adrian Newey has to take good care of him to keep it up [having a good car]," Schumacher concludes about the mastermind of the successful Red Bull cars.