After a three-week summer break, Formula 1 returns with recharged batteries and a race at Zandvoort to show local idol Max Verstappen facing his home grand prix as the premier leader of the World Championship. The Red Bull driver has added ten wins in the first twelve rounds of the season and with the remaining ten wins he will face a 125 point advantage over teammate Sergio Pérez and a 165 point advantage over Fernando Alonso, who is third in the championship.

The Asturian rider started the course with six podiums before accusing him of the Aston Martin’s decline in performance. Not giving up on the fight for second place He’s working with Checo and is confident that the improvements he’s promised to his car after the summer will allow him to regain his competitive edge and fight for leading positions at every grand prix.

Aston Martin Challenge

Aston Martin’s manager Dan Fallows gives hope to Alonso fans who are dreaming of the long-awaited 33rd win. “We are ready to continue moving forward in the second part of the campaign. We need to balance our limited training time Between understanding tire behavior and evaluating our upgrades. We have aerodynamic improvements to test at Zandvoort.”

“We hope the car’s performance at Zandvoort confirms we’re headed in the right direction with the latest developments and helps Lance (Strroll) and Fernando (Alonso) fight for points this weekend”, underlines ‘guru’ ‘Aston Martin and Adrian Newey’. For his former right-hand man at Red Bull.

Pedro De la Rosa, ambassador for the English team, also radiates optimism: “I’m talking to the team and there is a very positive feeling that they know what’s going on, exactly where they need to concentrate.” We know which areas need improvement and we’re working on them at full throttle.”

Alonso’s team is well aware that direct rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren have also improved their performance and that the top of the grid has become more compact, apart from the league’s Red Bull: “The front end. The grille has become incredibly compact. McLaren, for example, is putting its improvements in Austria. “He’s taken an incredible leap forward since he presented it to Yao. Maybe others have done a better job improving the car so far, but we’ll get there. It’s not the end of the game. It’s the game,” warns De la Rosa.

Hamilton is on the prowl and Red Bull will be penalized

With Alonso just one point (149-148) away from seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who will call ‘sorpasso’ at Zandvoort this weekend, Mercedes hopes to consolidate its current second place in the constructors’ standings. 51 ahead of Aston Martin. “There’s so much to fight for and we’re not going to throw in the towel. We’re going to work hard to be second in the manufacturers rankings, and we’ll also start development for 2024. We’re excited about the challenges that begin.” This weekend” points out Toto Wolff in the preview of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Red Bull and Verstappen have been overwhelming so far. The team went on vacation with 503 points, 256 points above Mercedes in the World Constructors’ Championship. And Verstappen is moving towards his third crown with 125 revenues. So the two big unknowns yet to be learned are how soon Max will be able to punish the championship and whether Red Bull will be able to complete it. undefeated season. For now, it has long surpassed McLaren’s 1988 success with Prost and Senna, and is the team with the most consecutive wins (13).