Verstappen: It’s going to be a great rest of the year

The current set of F1 aero regulations was launched back in the 2022 season, and while Ferrari with Charles Leclerc challenged Verstappen and Red Bull at the start of that season, they soon faded away, and the Dutchman emerged as the dominant force driving the Adrian Newey-designed "ground effect" cars.

The 2023 F1 season saw Red Bull win all but one race, the 2023 Singapore GP won by Carlos Sainz, as Verstappen won 19 grands prix with Sergio Perez winning two, but 2024 turned out to be a different story.

While the current F1 season started in a promising way for Red Bull and Verstappen, McLaren, Ferrari, and then Mercedes soon caught up with the reigning F1 Champions, and while Ferrari dropped back recently after winning the Monaco and Australian GPs with Leclerc and Sainz respectively, McLaren and Mercedes have been going from strength to strength winning in Miami, Austria and Silverstone with Lando Norris, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively.

Speaking to the media in the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend, where Red Bull launched their RB17 hypercar, Verstappen was asked whether he is enjoying the challenge, he responded: "For sure.

"We had some great years. Of course, this year also started off really competitively, and now everyone’s catching up a bit. Every race is a proper battle as well, so it’s great.

“I think that [theme] will continue also for the rest of the season, so it’s really unknown what is going to happen, and that’s great for the sport.

"I mean, in general, it’s just great to have so many fantastic drivers in F1 and making it difficult to win," the triple F1 Champion claimed.

"I think everyone was waiting for that as well and that’s definitely what F1 fans want. To have this is great between so many different teams as well. It’s going to be a great rest of the year," he concluded.

Despite the stern challenge from McLaren and Mercedes, Verstappen still leads the 2024 F1 Championship by a healthy 84-point-gap to McLaren's Norris.

Red Bull, on the other hand, are a bit more under pressure in the Constructors' Championship - which they lead from Ferrari by 71 points - as Perez continues to struggle failing to score points.