McLaren is on the verge of overcoming Red Bull's lead, needing just "a little something" more to consistently outpace Max Verstappen.
As described by ex-Formula 1 competitor Timo Glock, a weary Verstappen barely clinched the victory over Miami winner Lando Norris at Imola on Sunday, winning by a slim margin. "The air is getting thinner," reported Glock to Sky Deutschland, noting Verstappen's elevated heart rate and exhaustion in the closing stages of the race.
"All McLaren needs is a little something more and then they can really put him under pressure for the whole race. McLaren is absolutely there."
Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull's consultant, conceded that McLaren actually had the upper hand in speed at F1's most recent race in Italy.
"We wouldn't have won without Max, so thank God for Max," he acknowledged on Sunday, adding, "We have a lot of work ahead of us now."
The upcoming Monaco race is now eagerly anticipated, with Verstappen and Norris expected to battle closely once more. "We'll see," commented McLaren's Andrea Stella when queried about Norris's chances of winning in Monaco.
"It's good for us, good for Formula 1, good for the fans."
Charles Leclerc, who rounded out the top three at Imola, admitted his team's shortfall was more than anticipated. "Now there is no doubt," the Ferrari driver declared. "We are further behind than we expected."
Despite a significant upgrade to their car, Ferrari still fell short of expectations.
"There is more in it," Leclerc said optimistically. "We expected to be a little closer, but the season is long and there will be opportunities to extract more from this package."
Carlos Sainz, who finished further behind, reflected on the need for a thorough analysis. "We have to analyse it calmly, because I can't afford to have such a boring race, where I can't fight because of inconsistencies in the car.
"Between the aerodynamics and the engine there has been something that has not worked and we will have to look at it."
But as the season progresses, it's clear that not only McLaren but also Ferrari are eroding Red Bull's long-standing dominance.
"After Miami you could have maybe said that it was the safety car or it was luck," commented Ho-Pin Tung, a Dutch-Chinese racer.
"But McLaren have now shown that they are super fast over one lap and they are super fast over a race distance," he told Viaplay. "They simply now have a package with which they can really fight."
