In the SkySports podcast after the race in Jeddah, reporter Ted Kravitz made a prediction about the rest of the 2024 season. The Brit also expects Max Verstappen to win the Grand Prix in Melbourne. But it doesn’t stop there. Kravitz has ‘very little hope’ that another team could dethrone Red Bull Racing this year.
According to Kravitz, the RB20 is so dominant that he has given up hoping for an exciting duel between manufacturers for first place this season. “This year I have different feelings about Red Bull’s dominance and the hopes or fears for a competitive season,” says the reporter. ‘Last year I thought, given it was the second year with the new regulations, that things would be different and Ferrari might have a chance. But that’s not true.’
The battle for second place
According to Kravitz, Verstappen’s dominance does not make any chance of an exciting match impossible this season. The gap between teammate Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez and Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz is not too big. In Bahrain there was just under three seconds between the Mexican and Sainz. The gap between Pérez and the Monegasque was slightly larger in Jeddah, about five seconds.
Kravitz is looking forward to the battles between the three drivers and even says that Alonso should also be included. The reporter assumes that we will often see Verstappen qualify first and that there will be a considerable distance between the reigning world champion and the other drivers during the races. But the fight between Pérez, Leclerc, Piastri and Alonso could be interesting, according to him.
“Even if Mercedes drops a little, as we saw in Saudi Arabia, so that the other guys can come in, and Carlos can hopefully recover for the race in Australia, and that they can compete with Pérez for second place is a fight I would like to see,” says Kravitz. ‘But I have little hope for those who want to battle Verstappen for the championship. I think we already knew that.’
