A former Red Bull driver is predicting a major shift in the Formula 1 hierarchy this weekend at the Baku Grand Prix.
Red Bull's previously strong grip on the top of the F1 standings has visibly weakened in recent weeks, with McLaren closing the gap to just 8 points in the constructors' championship ahead of the Azerbaijan GP.
"I expect a change of leadership in the constructors' world championship this weekend," Christian Klien, a former Red Bull driver, told Kurier newspaper.
"For an unpredictable car like the Red Bull now," the Austrian added, "the high-speed street circuit with its 90-degree corners and lack of run-off areas is a nightmare."
Klien, who drove for Red Bull before their championship successes, admitted he has been surprised by how quickly the team has lost its dominant edge in 2024.
"Until China in April, everyone believed that they would walk it again," the 41-year-old said.
"Now, if they don't get the problems under control soon, the risk is very big. Because Baku and Singapore are already two difficult tracks for Red Bull."
While Klien anticipates McLaren overtaking the lead in the constructors' standings, he believes Lando Norris will require "team orders" to have any chance of catching up to Max Verstappen's substantial lead in the drivers' championship.
Some argue that Norris does not deserve the 'number 1' status ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri. Giedo van der Garde, another former F1 driver like Klien, thinks that Norris could be suffering from excess nerves now that he's regularly competing at the front.
In fact, Norris admitted during the Monza GP that his pre-race nerves are so intense that he can "barely eat or drink."
"Just because of nerves and just because of pressure," the Briton revealed. "If you do one thing—brake a metre too late or turn in with the wrong timing or whatever it is—then it's finished, game over. And the knowledge of that just puts you under a very tense feeling."
Van der Garde has been left unimpressed by the 24-year-old's struggles.
"After so many years, I can't understand that anymore," the Dutchman said on DRS De Race Show.
"Surely he knows what he has to do. You know your starting position, you know how to start. You have to get in there and do your thing," van der Garde stated. "You have to be focused."
"And it seems to me that the more you do this, the more experience you have and the less nervous you should be getting," noted the 39-year-old, who competed for Caterham in 2013.
"So maybe he's making the small mistakes we're seeing because he's so nervous.
"Because at the end of the race he's super sharp and incredibly fast. Maybe it's because of the nerves, yes."
Nevertheless, van der Garde is still backing Norris to take the win at Baku, with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton finishing behind him.
"But I have to admit, it's so hard to predict now," van der Garde cautioned. "So I really don't know who's going to win this weekend," he smiled.
"It's actually really exciting. Every time you go to a circuit and you think 'This could be a track for this driver or that driver', you now start to realise that Ferrari can win, McLaren can win, Mercedes can win, Red Bull can win."
