After winning seven of the first 10 Formula 1 races this season, Max Verstappen and Oracle Red Bull Racing appeared headed to a fourth consecutive world championship.
However, five races later without a win and Verstappen’s points gap has shrunk.
While he still leads McLaren’s Lando Norris by 70 markers, Verstappen appears vulnerable.
Verstappen got the jump on Norris at the start of Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, though after being chased down soon after, Norris took control.
Verstappen settled for the runner-up position, an astonishing 20-plus seconds behind Norris’ McLaren.
“Today the start was good and we got a lead in front, which was a positive start,” Verstappen began. “However, once I was overtaken it became about managing my own race as I know I didn’t have the pace to catch Lando.
“The car balance has been difficult this weekend, we just didn’t have the pace and we struggled with our tires. I tried my best but it just didn’t work today and we had quite a big gap to Lando.
“We didn’t have our best weekend and we will go back and analyze what we can do better.”
A momentum shift is apparent over the last five F-1 Grand Prix’s, with four different drivers winning.
In those five races, Verstappen has only finished on the podium twice.
While it would seemingly take a massive effort from Norris to catch Verstappen down the stretch this season, F-1’s points system may lean in Norris’ favor.
Twenty-five points go to the winner of each race, 18 to second and 15 to the final podium finisher. With Verstappen failing to finish on the podium in multiple events while Norris, who’s tallied three podium finishes in the last five events, continues to surge, it opens a hypothetical door.
From a team’s perspective, Red Bull’s margin for error is small, as it holds a 30-point lead in the constructor standings over McLaren.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull’s other driver, has struggled mightily throughout the season as he’s seventh in the driver’s standings with four podium finishes.
Red Bull’s CEO and Team Principal, Christian Horner, pointed to the team’s decision to add downforce to the team’s cars as the reason Red Bull’s pace missed the mark on Sunday.
“In hindsight the gamble we made with more downforce, following very little Friday running, perhaps wasn’t the best route,” Horner said. “We need to understand where the deficit is to McLaren and how we can improve performance on our car. We have some idea and will work hard to do that.
“We are going to have to respond and I am confident we have the strength and depth to do that. Max has a 70-point lead in the drivers’ championship but we have to keep scoring as a team and on the days we can’t win you have to finish second.”
Nine rounds remain on the F-1 calendar beginning with this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.