Max Verstappen casts pivotal F1 2024 prediction as Red Bull unleash biggest RB20 upgrade yet

Max Verstappen is the reigning F1 World Champion

Max Verstappen has admitted it will be difficult to call how the rest of the F1 2024 season will unfold if the latest Red Bull RB20 upgrade does not deliver as expected at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Having produced the most dominant season in the sport’s history in F1 2023, winning 21 out of a possible 22 races as Verstappen eased to a third World Championship, Red Bull started the F1 2024 campaign in similar fashion, winning four of the first five rounds.

Max Verstappen: Red Bull RB20 upgrade could shape second half of F1 2024

However, the RB20 has struggled over recent months, with Verstappen winning three of the last seven races stretching back to the Miami Grand Prix in early May.

With Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez scoring just 15 points across the last six races, McLaren are growing in confidence that they can overturn a 78-point deficit to challenge for the F1 2024 Constructors’ Championship.

Red Bull are set to respond to the growing threat posed by the likes of McLaren and Mercedes by producing their biggest upgrade of the season to date at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

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Speaking to reporters in Budapest on Thursday, Verstappen explained that the update should “give a good boost” to Red Bull after a tricky series of races.

Yet he conceded that the team could be in for an uncomfortable second half of the season if the new parts do not deliver as hoped.

Asked how close the competition will be to Red Bull in Hungary, Verstappen replied: “I think you should turn it around: how close can we be to the competition?

“I think in the last few races we have not been the quickest car, so I don’t expect that to suddenly now be any different.

“Of course we are bringing upgrades, so hopefully that will give a good boost. At the moment, I just want to try and see how that will work this weekend.

“We brought stuff [earlier in the season] but they were not particularly big, I would say. This one is a bit bigger than what we have brought already.

“So I think, for everyone, this is an important weekend.”

Asked if Red Bull’s upgrade could shape the next few months, he responded: “You could say that. I think so.

“If this is not giving us some good laptime, then I don’t know how the rest of the season is going to evolve.

“But at the same time, I also don’t know what’s coming from the other teams, so we just focus on ourselves.

“We are bringing quite some things to the car and of course I hope that will give us a bit of laptime.”

Asked if he will be worried if the upgrade does not work, he added: “It’s always not good if it doesn’t work, because if you work on it you of course expect it to deliver on track.”

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