The second half of the Formula 1 season is upon us, with Max Verstappen the owner of a healthy (78-point) lead in the drivers standings and Red Bull maintaining a less healthy, albeit still pretty healthy, 42-point lead in the constructors standings. At the same point last year, Verstappen’s lead was a whopping 125 points, and Red Bull held an insurmountable 205-point edge. So, the gap is closing, and hopefully, the second half of the season will see that distance close even further. I think everyone, except for anyone in the Red Bull organization, wants to see that. And here are a few other things we’d like to see from now until the season finale at Abu Dhabi on December 8th.
*To start, I’d like to see McLaren continue to be the biggest threat to Red Bull’s dominance, and while Lando Norris won’t challenge Verstappen in the drivers standings, McLaren can surely give Red Bull some worries in the constructors. A 42-point lead could evaporate in the span of one race (a McLaren 1-2, coupled with a Red Bull dual disaster, and that lead disappears). Let’s face it: the odds are kind of stacked against Red Bull; it’s basically three (Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Sergio Perez) against one (Verstappen). Although it is impossible in the parameters of the F1 scoring system, it still seems like Perez could find a way to score negative points.
On the flip side, McLaren could become that team that clearly has the speed and performance but continually shoots itself in the foot with boneheaded strategy moves, even more boneheaded strategy moves, miscellaneous driver errors, pit lane mishaps, and numerous squandered potential wins. In other words, copying present-day Ferrari.
*I’d like to see George Russell win the Las Vegas Grand Prix on October 20th, then, while on the podium, reveal an undershirt beneath his driver’s suit that reads “I Had To ‘Weight’ 1.5 Kilograms And 116 Days Until My Next F1 Win.” Then, dropkick the F1 rule book, which, incidentally, probably weighs 1.5 kilograms, off the podium and into the crowd.
*It would be fun, in a rubbernecking-an-accident-on-the-freeway kind of way, to see Esteban Ocon endear himself to his 2025 team, Haas, while simultaneously giving the middle finger to his 2024 team, Alpine, by wiping out himself, his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, and both Haas cars, with a bold, yet amazingly stupid, attempt to take 17th place from 20th on the grid at the first corner of the United States Grand Prix, with a contingent of Haas VIPs looking on.
*How cool would it be to see Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton win the final three races of the season for Mercedes, then reveal the latest in his collection of trendy tattoos, a “No Regrets” inking in custom Ferrari font on his lower back?
*If Max Verstappen vs Lando Norris is F1’s rivalry of 2025 and beyond (add Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari and make it a three-way dance), then it needs a little spice added. And what better place than Verstappen’s home turf at Zandvoort for Norris or Hamilton to make a statement? By “making a statement,” I mean wrecking Verstappen in deliberate fashion in front of hundreds of thousands of orange-clad lunatics and then blaming Verstappen for the accident.
A Norris-Verstappen rivalry just doesn’t work if the two are friends. And Hamilton, who is technically a “Sir,” is too much of a gentleman to truly get under Verstappen’s skin.
The Norris-Verstappen friendship was tested in Austria in late June when the two made contact while racing for the lead. Blame was tossed back and forth, but just like that, the Lando-Max buddy-buddy dynamic was back at the next race. Boring. Come on, guys. Don’t handle these situations like men; handle them like children! We know Verstappen is more than capable of checking that box.
*Sergio Perez seems to get a bad rap from me and many others, so it would be nice to see Red Bull’s No. 2 man put it all together at the Mexico City Grand Prix on October 27th and sweep the pole, the race, and fastest lap in front of his home fans. It would solidify Red Bull’s decision to maintain Perez through the 2025 season and leave Perez only four more races in 2024 to make them doubt that decision.
*Martin Brundle’s “Grid Walk” has become must-see pre-race TV, but it has somewhat stagnated into a lovefest in which Brundle asks softball questions while famous and sometimes not-so-famous grid walkers profess their love for the sport and Brundle himself. I propose Brundle team up with Triumph The Insult Comic Dog and, for example, traverse the Baku City Circuit, confront non-local celebrities, and challenge them to spell “Azerbaijan.”
Or, track down Flavio Briatore at the Italian Grand Prix and request an interview, or, using a term Briatore might be more familiar with, a deposition.
And if the Triumph experiment is too abrasive, then at least dress Brundle in an Elvis costume at Las Vegas, where he can interview any number of VIPs while ending every interview with his best Elvis impression of “Thank you very much.”
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.