Is the Red Bull Dominance Coming Back?

Is the Red Bull Dominance Coming Back?

It’s no secret that redbull has been struggling for the last couple of years. Cycling through drivers to fill in the second seat alongside Max Verstappen. It’s also lost a couple of big names, including team principal and CEO Christian Horner, and chief technical officer Adrian Newey. 

Redbull has been one of the most successful teams in Formula One, especially in recent years. Horner and Newey helped redbull win, and Verstappen win his first consecutive World Drivers’ Championships. Ever since winning Verstappen’s latest championship in 2024, the team hasn’t been the same. 

Entering a new era in Formula One, with new regulations. redbull seems to be one of the only teams to have been able to find their footing in this new chapter. The new regulations have shaken up Formula One, but Red Bull has been going through some growing pains, with Isack Hadjar stepping into the second seat and Laurent Mekies going from VCARB team principal to Rebull’s. Will Mekies be able to lead Redbull back to their winning ways? 

Final Piece of the Puzzle:

Has redbull found their second driver? Isack Hadjar is in his second season with the team and is officially confirmed for the 2027 season. There was a bit of speculation if redbull had made the right choice keeping Him. Hadjar hasn’t driven a Formula One car since the Hungarian Grand Prix back in July. being out of the car after sustaining a wrist injury during the F1 summer break. Liam Lawson took over while Hadjar recovered, while Yuki Tsunoda raced in the VCARB seat for the time being. 

Hadjar made his grand return to Red Bull this past weekend for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was hard to predict how Hadjar’s weekend was going to go. He’s been out of an F1 car for 9 weeks. Though it seemed like Hadjar’s wrist injury could have ruined his future at redbull. He has been nothing but consistent, finding himself scoring points week after week. He definitely proved that he deserved his seat, qualifying P4 and finishing P3 in the race. 

Rewrite the Story:

Verstappen has had a tumultuous season. Now that we know he’s here to stay for a while, will he be able to win his fifth championship? Mathematically, after Baku, he is still in contention to win. We’ve seen it before, Verstappen closing the gap between him and Lando Norris in 2025. Going from 88 points to 2 points behind Norris for the championship. Verstappen ended second in the standings, after clawing his way back up. Three points would have given Verstappen the championship.

Now in 2026, things seem nearly impossible for Verstappen. He’s sixth in the standings, 132 points away from the leader, Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen has always been able to find cracks and make his way through. 2025 reminded us of that. In 2025, it seemed like the fight was just going to stay between the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri. History is repeating itself with Mercedes. Max Verstappen is going to sneak up when you least expect it and put himself in the front and center of the championship fight. Can he change the ending and win his fifth championship? And with eight races to go, will Verstappen be able to close the gap?