Verstappen rivals offered hope as ‘twist’ prediction made

Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert has offered hope for Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s rivals, by stating that he predicts a “twist” in the pecking order this year. 

Herbert’s comments come after the Milton Keynes-based team encountered a challenging second half of 2024, following issues with the RB20. 

Despite the problems which took Red Bull several races to solve, Verstappen still secured a fourth consecutive F1 drivers’ title with two rounds remaining. 

He ended last year 63 points ahead of Lando Norris, who Herbert noted was able to defeat the Dutchman at times even after Red Bull understood its struggles.

“The one positive thing for Red Bull after last year was actually how they ended the season,” Herbert told Casinoutanspelpaus.io. 

“They actually ended the season pretty strong, to be honest, and they were a force to be reckoned with, but as we saw with Lando Norris, he still was able to get the better of Max Verstappen.

“So going into the new season, Red Bull know what went wrong.”

Red Bull ‘strength’ questioned

At the end of last season, Red Bull did, as pointed out by Herbert, acknowledge what caused the problems with the RB20. 

It is similar to what Mercedes stated a couple years ago, before still encountering issues the following season. 

Herbert wonders if it will be the same in the upcoming campaign for Red Bull, leading to a change in the pecking order. 

“I do remember Mercedes talking about this a couple of years ago, ‘We know where we went wrong with the design of our car’ but results have shown that they didn’t quite know what was going on,” Herbert pointed out.

“You can say all that stuff, but the proof would be in the pudding when they actually start rolling those wheels in the tests, but more so when we get to Australia.

“Red Bull still have some good foundations there. I just don’t know if they’ve got the overall strength that the likes of McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, who now have Lewis Hamilton. 

“I think there’s a slight little twist coming our way to who’s going to be top dog.”