Albers Swims Against the Tide and Maintains Belief in Verstappen's Fifth World Title

Christijan Albers noted that Red Bull Racing was off the pace from the beginning in Austria. The retirement was the icing on the cake. "It was truly disappointing. It was a bad weekend altogether. They just weren't up to par," he said on De Telegraaf's F1 podcast.

From Friday to Saturday, the Austrian team did not find as much pace as usual. "Normally, you might hope for some progress from Friday to Saturday. A bit of engine power increase, those kinds of things, and also fine-tuning the setup to catch up. I felt that he would catch up after the third free practice on Saturday, but that was a disillusionment for the qualification."

The fifth world title for Verstappen has become a lot harder after this retirement. "It was really disappointing, to be honest. Because when you see such a result today, like Norris winning again and Piastri coming in second, you still feel that he maintains some connection. It's starting to become a bit of a difficult story now," Albers concluded.

But the Dutchman has not completely lost faith yet. After all, the McLarens could still take each other out. "All it takes is one more battle between the two of them. Let's not forget that last weekend, Norris retired and scored zero points."

"It's not over until it's really over. And that's still not the case," the former F1 driver concluded optimistically.