Max Verstappen had almost everything his own way early in 2024, winning five of the opening seven races and building a sizeable championship advantage, while Red Bull boasted a solid lead of their own. But just two more wins have followed for driver and team since then, with rivals making strides and a genuine title fight developing. So, who exactly has been trending in the right direction? As the F1 paddock gets ready to head back out on track, we take a closer look…

As mentioned above, Verstappen went on an early-season charge by winning in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China and Imola, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (Australia) and McLaren’s Lando Norris (Miami) the only two drivers to break the Dutchman’s stellar run.

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It became clear by the Miami round, though, that several of Red Bull’s competitors were starting to catch a team who have dominated F1’s latest ground effect era so far, prompting calls for improvement from Verstappen as he looks to make it four title wins on the bounce.

And those calls have only grown louder in recent times, given that Verstappen’s return of five wins from the first seven races has been replaced by two victories from the last seven – the RB20 no longer looking like the dream machine that started the season.

Indeed, four different teams have now claimed victory this year, with McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all joining Red Bull as winners, while seven different drivers – everyone from those outfits bar Sergio Perez – have taken the chequered flag first.

The drivers

Most wins since Monaco

2 – Verstappen and Hamilton

If we start by looking at the most race wins from a driver between Monaco and Belgium, there are two who share the accolade: reigning world champion Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen grabbed his latest victories in Canada and Spain, having been beaten to pole position by George Russell at the former event and Norris at the latter, before dropping out of contention for another triumph in Austria when he clashed with the McLaren man.

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Hamilton, meanwhile, has arguably returned to his best form since 2021 amid a series of consistent car improvements from Mercedes, yielding a superb home win at Silverstone and another at Spa-Francorchamps when team mate Russell was disqualified.

Most podiums since Monaco

4 – Hamilton, Norris and Piastri

Hamilton again shares the lead when it comes to recent podiums, this time with McLaren pair Norris and Piastri on four, having added to his brace of wins by finishing third in Spain and Hungary – taking his career rostrum tally over the milestone 200 mark in the process.

Underlining the progress McLaren have also made this season, driven by a sizeable update package introduced in Miami, Norris has three second places and a P3 to his name since Monaco, while Piastri has three second places and a maiden win scored at the Hungaroring.

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Most points scored since Monaco

116 – Verstappen

Perhaps most telling of all, Hamilton is just one point behind Verstappen when it comes to points scored over the last seven races, with the Red Bull driver claiming 116 to the Mercedes man’s 115 – showing what could have been possible had Mercedes managed to hit the ground running in 2024.

Piastri is only one point further back on 114, having finished either second or first in three of the last four races, with team mate Norris gathering 98 (and left to lament some “stupid” mistakes), while Russell would have been in the mix had it not been for his painful DSQ in Belgium.

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The teams

Most wins since Monaco

3 – Mercedes

As touched on with Hamilton above, Mercedes were the form team heading into the summer break, having won in Austria, Britain and Belgium – the latter race initially going down as a one-two finish before Russell’s car failed to reach the minimum weight.

It puts them ahead of Red Bull (two wins), McLaren (one win) and Ferrari (one win) when looking at what’s happened between Monte Carlo and Spa-Francorchamps, giving team chiefs confidence that they are now well and truly back in business after a tough period.

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Most podiums since Monaco

8 – McLaren

With a car that is performing well at pretty much every venue, and two drivers – Norris’s recent wobbles aside – who are more often than not extracting its full potential, it is no surprise that McLaren have logged the most podium finishes over the ‘second half’ of the first half.

Mercedes are a close second on this list with six podiums, including those three aforementioned victories, while Ferrari have racked up four and Red Bull are on three (all scored by Verstappen amid team mate Perez’s performance struggles).

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Even more impressive on McLaren’s side is the fact that they have featured inside the top three positions at every Grand Prix since China back in April, with their only podium-less rounds so far coming in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Most points scored since Monaco

182 – McLaren

Finally, after recording one-two finishes at three of the first four races and appearing well on course to make it three constructors’ championships in a row, Red Bull’s points advantage is now looking precarious at best thanks to McLaren’s charge.

As recently as Silverstone, the Milton Keynes team’s lead stood at 71 points, but a combination of Perez’s poor form and McLaren’s consistent, two-car scoring has seen that brought down to just 42 – meaning the lead could in theory change hands next time out at Zandvoort.

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If we look at the last seven rounds, McLaren have scored a whopping 212 points compared to Red Bull’s 140 (with 116 of the latter’s coming from Verstappen), while Mercedes’ winning run means they also boast a higher return of 187.

All to play for, then, in the second half…