Red Bull ready for more records, Formula One rivals hoping for any intervention

SILVERSTONE – Many Formula One fans this weekend will be recalling the accidental feat of Jean-Louis Schlesser as Max Verstappen leads Red Bull’s assault on one of the sport’s oldest records at the British Grand Prix.

As the Dutch driver bids to add to his own sequence of five consecutive wins to boost his runaway lead en route to a third straight drivers’ world title, his team will be gunning for an 11th straight win.

If Red Bull succeed, they will equal the record set by McLaren in 1988, when the British team boasted a legendary line-up of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

Many had fancied McLaren to complete the 1988 season unbeaten – as Red Bull bid to be this year – but their ambitions were undone when Senna tangled with a backmarker at the Italian Grand Prix after Prost had retired.

In his only F1 race start, Frenchman Schlesser, deputising for the unwell Nigel Mansell with Williams on the eve of his 40th birthday, collided with the race-leading Brazilian with three laps remaining. It gifted Ferrari an emotional one-two win just weeks after the death of team founder Enzo Ferrari, who was 90.

It ended McLaren’s dream of invincibility.

Such a scenario may be the only hope of preventing Red Bull claiming another win, probably through Verstappen, and presenting another team a taste of the victor’s champagne on Sunday.

Verstappen’s dominant display last weekend hoisted him 81 points clear of teammate Sergio Perez in the title race, making a third title appear inevitable, but others believe fate may yet intervene.

“It’s going to be epic,” said Red Bull team chief Christian Horner, as if sensing the power of the occasion ahead at Silverstone.

“But who knows what obstacles there could be? We saw what happened there last year and it’s a race we haven’t won since, I think, Mark Webber in 2012. So, it’s a big race for us on this calendar.”

After winning 16 of the last 20 races, Verstappen will be brimming with confidence while Ferrari, revived by Charles Leclerc’s second-placed finish in Austria, will hope they can triumph again, one year after their last victory and on a track where Carlos Sainz was successful a year ago.

Despite a dismal display last Sunday, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will hope to impress, at least, if not to add to his record eight British victories.

His team boss Toto Wolff confirmed Mercedes will have another raft of upgrades on their car this weekend.

“We have reasons for optimism,” he said.

Hamilton himself hopes his fellow-British drivers – teammate George Russell or McLaren’s Lando Norris – will rise and shine in what promises to be a momentous contest.

“George and Lando are both incredibly talented, and have a bright future in front of them,” said Hamilton, after declaring he had no intention of passing over the baton as top British contender yet.

“It is crazy to think that they are as young as they are. Lando is 23 but (it) feels like he has been here for ages, so I am excited to watch their journey and where they get to.”

Looking ahead, Formula One on Wednesday announced a record 24-race schedule for the 2024 season, opening with grands prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia that will be held on Saturdays to accommodate Ramadan.

That will make three Saturday races on the calendar, along with Las Vegas, which will stage the first F1 race on a Saturday since 1985 on Nov 18.

The 2024 season, which will start in February and end in December, will contain three bursts of three races in three weeks, including the last three in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

There are also two three-week breaks – the traditional summer break and a pause between Singapore on Sept 22 and the United States Grand Prix on Oct 20. AFP