The dominance of Red Bull in Formula 1 seems to be waning, casting doubt on Max Verstappen's continued supremacy at this weekend's Monaco GP.
Despite securing a win from the pole position at Imola just last week, it became apparent throughout the event that both McLaren and Ferrari are now closely trailing the three-time world champion.
"Perhaps Max sometimes is a bit faster," stated Ferrari's Frederic Vasseur. "But we have a pack with six or seven cars in one tenth."
"That means that for details you can move from hero to zero."
With the introduction of McLaren's 'B' 2024 car in Miami, Lando Norris, who claimed victory in Miami, finished Imola less than a second behind Verstappen.
"McLaren are managing to get the tyres with the medium-hard and hard compounds into the optimal working window now," remarked Red Bull's consultant Dr. Helmut Marko.
"They have come closer to us with their technical improvements, and they have recently put together the better package in terms of race setup," he disclosed to Speed Week.
Marko now views Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as potentially the biggest threat for the upcoming race in Monaco.
"It will certainly be tighter than last year," he noted. "Leclerc is a force in qualifying in Monaco, and everyone knows that the grand prix is largely decided by qualifying."
Jan Lammers, Dutch GP boss, while speaking to NOS, believes Ferrari might surpass both Red Bull and McLaren around Monaco's challenging circuit. "I agree," he said.
"I think the Ferraris will grab the kerbs better there than the McLarens and the Red Bulls," he explained.
"I think it could be a Leclerc weekend, but then again it could also be (Carlos) Sainz. Or just Verstappen again," Lammers added, laughing.
Concurring with this perspective, Marko told the De Telegraaf newspaper, "I think this will be the most difficult race for us, also because of the bumps and kerbs."
"We will definitely have to deal with McLaren and I also expect a lot from Ferrari and above all from Leclerc."
