Verstappen’s struggle and Hamilton’s success show F1 and Hollywood are not done yet

Pitt, Verstappen, generic — Photo: © IMAGO

Verstappen’s struggle and Hamilton’s success show F1 and Hollywood are not done yet

Formula 1 has seen some blockbuster action in 2024

Claire Cottingham

Sunday 28 July 2024 01:00

Formula 1’s 2024 season has unexpectedly become a Hollywood movie.

Not because of the filming of the Brad Pitt-led movie at several grands prix over the past two years, but thanks to a series of storylines so outlandish that even if an ace scriptwriter could squeeze it all into one two-hour cinematic extravaganza, nobody would believe it was plausible.

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That means it's not just great news for fans right now, but also for those anticipating the sequel.

Lando Norris is having a real go at challenging Max Verstappen's dominance

F1's incredible turnaround

They were dominant in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and despite retiring in Australia, won in Japan, and China.

At the Australian Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris summed up the prevailing feeling in the F1 paddock when he predicted no change in dominance before the new regulations come in ahead of 2026.

"For things to really shake up, you need to wait until 2026," said Norris in March.

"That could potentially be a big shake-up for every team, including the power units probably being one of the biggest things. Now there's not really anything between the power units between teams, but a lot more between cars. I expect Red Bull, being the team they are, to always carry an advantage because they're ahead."

It was far from an unusual view as last year Charles Leclerc warned that Red Bull 'have a really big margin and it's going to be very difficult to catch them before the change of regulations'.

Max Verstappen has cut a frustrated figure in recent weeks

Verstappen dominance waning

Yet now, Verstappen has not won in three races and struggled furiously with an over-steering Red Bull in Hungary, where he had to settle for a fifth-place finish.

In recent months, Red Bull has been knocked off its pedestal, and the Dutchman has been drawn into a series of on-track dogfights. To add to his misery, Oscar Piastri became the seventh different winner this season, showing the Milton Keynes team have not had it all their way.

Just to name a few stand-out moments, Charles Leclerc managed to finally cross the line as a winner at his home grand prix in Monaco, after previous agonies around the famous streets he knows so well from his childhood.

Lewis Hamilton stunned his home crowd in his Mercedes as Verstappen struggled at Silverstone and triumphed to get his first win in two and a half years.

“No-win Lando” Norris finally put an end to the record he’d rather forget and picked up his first victory in Miami.

Yet different winners are just the tip of the Hollywood iceberg. Despite sitting fourth in the championship with three career wins under his belt, Carlos Sainz risks being out of a competitive seat after being turfed out by Ferrari for 2025 in favour of seven-time world champion Hamilton.

And in recent races, cracks are beginning to show for Verstappen and Red Bull.

Adrian Newey will leave Red Bull in 2025

Newey leaves Red Bull in the lurch

Things began to change at Red Bull after Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey announced he would be leaving the team. The design guru was a prime mover behind the teams' dominance and his absence raises questions about whether it’s going in the right direction technically.

Not just that, but Red Bull needs to make a definitive decision on how they move forward with Sergio Perez, who is currently sitting seventh in the championship after a string of mistakes, most recently throwing it into the wall in Hungary during qualifying.

There is now even talk that Daniel Ricciardo, who has been underachieving in the sister Red Bull team, could be sitting in a Red Bull car at Zandvoort.

“I would never make any predictions in this sport,” Ricciardo told media at the British GP. “I feel like the more this sport goes on, the more it gets...I know it kind of goes in the trend of the sport is getting bigger, it's becoming more Hollywood so to speak.

“In terms of the profile the sport has. Also the narrative that runs with the sport now is certainly more Hollywood in terms of...it's so unpredictable so do I have any proof that I'll be anywhere else? I do not.

“Crazy things happen but I'm certainly not in a place to say that or think that or predict that. I'll try to keep doing my thing, today wasn't the case, again not to completely point the finger but I felt like there wasn't much more I could do with the situation we put ourselves in.”

When even one of F1’s most ‘Hollywood’ drivers recognises how remarkable the plot twists have been, you know it’s been an astonishing year.

If F1 continues on this trajectory, the sport will continue to be an easy sell to audiences. After the summer break, Red Bull has ten races to turn around their fortunes and continue fighting at the sharp end.

If not, there’s no saying how this Hollywood blockbuster will end.

Red Bull McLaren F1 Hamilton