Mercedes still lead the Formula 1 constructors’ standings by 246 points. Max Verstappen has won the last two races, both of them with no one near him. Those two facts, side by side, are why Toto Wolff spent his media round around the United States Grand Prix tipping his hat to Red Bull.
“One thing is for sure, next year, it’s a full-on fight between the teams and Red Bull is part of that,” Wolff told Sky Sports after Verstappen’s Austin win.
The Austrian called Verstappen “by far the quickest guy” in both the Singapore and Austin rounds, and said Mercedes were still waiting on an upgrade of their own to see whether they could get back in front of a Red Bull that has suddenly become the fastest car on track.
The engine, not just the chassis
The sharper admission from Wolff was about Red Bull’s power unit, not their aerodynamics. Asked specifically about the ICE, the team principal said he had not yet studied the Singapore data in detail but that the Red Bull engine showed no sign of lagging. Energy recovery and deployment, he added, looked “pretty good” too.
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For a Mercedes boss whose team’s dominance of the hybrid era was built on exactly that side of a modern F1 engine, it was a notable choice of word.
Wolff was equally pointed about Red Bull’s development curve. He said the way the car has come together as a package, with Verstappen in the cockpit, was worth taking “your hat off” to.
Antonelli still leads, but the gap is pre-Austin
The compliments do not change the standings that were last published in full. Kimi Antonelli led the Drivers’ Championship on 340 points, 102 clear of his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, with Verstappen fourth on 221, according to the standings compiled by RaceFans after the Singapore Grand Prix.
Mercedes had 578 points in the Constructors’ Championship, with Ferrari on 444, McLaren on 339 and Red Bull on 332. Those figures predate Verstappen’s Austin win and the points that moved with it.
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Verstappen’s quieter version of the same story
Verstappen was less dramatic than Wolff in his own account of Red Bull’s run. Speaking after his Singapore Grand Prix victory on 11 October, the four-time champion said the last few races had been positive and there was motivation in the team to deliver more.
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