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Verstappen: McLaren ‘most consistent’ rival to Red Bull
Although Ferrari stopped Red Bull’s winning streak in Singapore, McLaren has emerged as their closest competitor in the last two races. With both cars finishing in the top three in Qatar, McLaren achieved back-to-back double podium finishes for the first time since 2010. Despite starting sixth and tenth on the grid, both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished within six seconds of Verstappen, who clinched his 14th victory of the year. Verstappen acknowledges that McLaren has made significant progress throughout the year and has the strongest driver lineup among the teams chasing them. However, he believes that the closer competition can be attributed to the FIA’s limits on tire stints, which affected Red Bull’s usual advantage of longer tire runs. Verstappen admits that McLaren’s improvement has narrowed the gap and that Red Bull needs to maintain their edge.
Source: Motorsport Week
