As Formula 1 fans, we’re predisposed to looking at things in order – race results, timesheets, fastest lap charts – and start arguments about our own subjective rankings of motorsport-themed esoterica. A top 10 ranking of the best driver of all time is sure to ignite torches and sharpen pitchforks, for instance, let alone the descent into a Hunger Games-esque battleground every time the subject of “best Minardi livery” comes up. I’d pick 1996, but then I’d have to go into hiding.
But we need to reassess our relationship with rankings and immovable stats, because Red Bull is confounding them a little bit this year in its own attempt to sell an underdog story. After qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen made the suggestion that Red Bull was now the fourth-fastest team in F1 – behind McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari. That was not only a reductive way of looking at it, but it was also not really true; Ferrari had been a step behind the top three in the opening races, and Lewis Hamilton‘s sprint win had not been followed up on in qualifying in any case. His Saturday-race heroics had, and have, been the exception to the rule.
In this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
Formula 1
Red Bull Racing
McLaren
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