McLaren told they have one driver to thank for still keeping Red Bull behind
Photo: Race Pictures
Tobia is a Formula 1 journalist at GPblog with experience at international circuits. Since 2022, he has covered Grands Prix across Europe, delivering reliable coverage and insights from the paddock.
Red Bull have closed to within just seven points of McLaren in the Constructors' Championship, with the battle for third place becoming increasingly intense. Former Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins believes the Woking-based team would already be behind their rivals if Isack Hadjar had not missed three races earlier this season.
Max Verstappen's recent victories in Malaysia and Singapore have helped Red Bull reduce the gap, while McLaren have missed opportunities to collect valuable points. One notable example was the collision between their two drivers during the Sprint, which cost the team further valuable points.
Collins warns McLaren over missed opportunities
Speaking on the Sky F1 Show, Collins highlighted the difference between Verstappen's ability to maximise his results and McLaren's struggles to do the same.
"I think McLaren have had a few instances through the year where they’ve not maximised their points. Max Verstappen this weekend maximised the result. McLaren this weekend did not, and there have been several weekends where McLaren did not maximise the result. This accident was a silly example of it."
ADVERTISEMENT
The former F1 strategist also pointed to Hadjar's absence from the Dutch, Italian and Spanish Grands Prix. The Frenchman missed all three events with a wrist injury, forcing Red Bull to bring Liam Lawson back into the senior team.
Lawson finished seventh at Zandvoort, 14th at Monza and sixth in Madrid, scoring 14 points during his temporary return. Collins believes Red Bull could already be ahead of McLaren had Hadjar competed in those races: "I think that if Hadjar hadn’t missed three races and where Liam Lawson was in that car, Red Bull would be ahead of McLaren."
Photo: Race Pictures
Red Bull's resurgence puts McLaren under pressure
Hadjar returned at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, immediately securing a podium finish with third place in Baku. He then finished fifth in Malaysia and tenth in Singapore, adding further points to Red Bull's tally. With Verstappen also winning the Bahrain and Singapore Grands Prix, Red Bull have moved onto 332 points, just seven behind McLaren's 339.
ADVERTISEMENT
Collins believes Hadjar's three-race absence may ultimately have prevented Red Bull from overtaking their rivals sooner: "That’s what McLaren know is that they have been saved, I think, at this stage because Hadjar wasn’t in that car for three races and they weren’t scoring the points that they could have done.
"Now Red Bull are on the up and they need to up their game if they’re going to survive in that P3 position because it doesn’t look like it at the moment."
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google