The gaps that show Red Bull's faltering F1 dominance

At the beginning of the season, Max Verstappen and Red Bull seemed set to dominate F1 once again.

Verstappen won four of the first five races, but then had to sit idly by as the competition made a big step forward.

The gains from Red Bull's competitors are evident when you compare the current points numbers to last year. Red Bull stood at 503 points after 12 races in 2023, which has now been reduced to 373 points this year. 

Verstappen has scored fewer points in 2024 due to increasing competition, with 255 to 314 last year. But team-mate Sergio Perez has even more ground compared to 2023, sitting with 71 fewer points.

Red Bull rivals catching up

On the other hand other top teams, apart from Mercedes and Aston Martin, are well up on their 2023 tallies. McLaren's turnaround especially stands out - last season Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had 103 points, now that number is already 295. 

The Woking-based team therefore appears to be Red Bull's closest rival for the constructors' championship, but needs to close a 78-point gap in the second half of the season. In the drivers' championship, Norris is 84 points behind Verstappen.

Ferrari too, which has been struggling in recent weeks, had a much better start than last year. The Scuderia outfit is 111 points in the plus, helped by wins by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in Australia and Monaco respectively. However, something has to change to keep that momentum going, as ever since the win in Monaco, things have gone downhill for the team.

Red Bull has built a comfortable lead due to its strong season start, but has to pull out all the stops to keep off McLaren and Mercedes in particular. The dominance is gone - so let's look forward to what is shaping up to be a great second half of the season!

View the comparisons between 2023 and 2024 among drivers and constructors below.