No F1 driver says they have the quickest car. Maybe this time they’re all correct · RaceFans

Red Bull won every single one of the 12 rounds leading up to last year’s summer break.

But 12 months on, things could hardly be more different. Seven drivers from four teams have taken victories so far.

Last year Red Bull faced constant questions about whether they might win every single race. This year they are being grilled over why they’ve kept Sergio Perez in their team when his dismal results seriously threaten their constructors championship chances.

This did not appear to be on the cards as the teams left the fifth round of the season in China a little over three months ago. Max Verstappen had won four of the first five races and probably would have made it a clean sweep had his right-rear brake not jammed on at the start in Australia, forcing him out.

Since then, Red Bull’s rivals have closed in, starting with McLaren. “I think if you look at the last five, six races, they for sure have been the best,” said Verstappen at Spa. “It’s quite clear.”

McLaren turned their season around when they introduced a significant new upgrade package at the Miami Grand Prix. Lando Norris won the race with the aid of a timely Safety Car period, though it remains his only victory to date:

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McLaren have undoubtedly been in far better shape over the second half of the season so far than the first. This data shows only part of the picture, however. While Red Bull had a clear pace advantage over a single lap in Austria, where Verstappen took pole position by four-tenths of a second, McLaren were in great shape at the end of the race and Norris was able to repeatedly attack his rival until the pair collided.

Red Bull responded to the threat from McLaren by bringing a drastically revised bodywork package intended for high-downforce tracks to the Hungaroring, three weeks ahead of schedule, for Verstappen’s car only. However he says the team need to do more to repel the threat from McLaren.

“Fair play to them, I think they have done a great job,” he said. “From our side we have a bit of work to do.

“There’s a few things also to analyse over the break, from race one all the way to here, what we have done. Then try to fight back from Zandvoort, see if we can actually improve the situation, try to turn it around, try to be more competitive.”

While Verstappen urges his team to push on with car development, in real terms the RB20 remains…