Nico Rosberg outlines two key reasons Red Bull have ‘completely dropped away’ from McLaren and Ferrari

Red Bull came out on top over their rivals in the Drivers’ Championship in 2024 as Max Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive title.

The Dutchman looked to continue his dominance shown in 2023 as he won seven of the opening 10 races and bridged a huge gap to his rivals. Verstappen sealed the deal at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after his sensational victory the round prior in Sao Paulo from 17th on the grid.

But the RB20 suffered a drop in performance at the halfway point of the season and Verstappen and Sergio Perez began struggling to extract the most out of the car – although the latter had been having issues at Red Bull long before this.

While Verstappen was able to defend his drivers’ title, Red Bull are officially out of the Constructors’ Championship fight heading into the final race of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg says Red Bull’s drop in performance and Sergio Perez have cost them against McLaren and Ferrari

After Verstappen’s seventh win of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix, the 27-year-old did not win another race until Sao Paulo, scoring only four podiums in that time.

Meanwhile, McLaren and Ferrari showed a clear advantage over the Milton Keynes-based squad, with the former winning four races and the latter winning three while Red Bull could not compete against their rivals at the front.

But while Verstappen was able to get his car into solid points finishes, teammate Perez has struggled to get into Q3 regularly or score points at all. The Mexican has only finished above 10th place once in the last seven races.

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Speaking on Sky Sports F1 during FP3, Nico Rosberg was left stunned over the ‘unbelievable’ battle between McLaren and Ferrari for the constructors’ title as he pinpointed Red Bull’s car performance and Perez’s struggles as the reasons why the team have ‘dropped away’ compared to their rivals.

“It is really unbelievable, no one in the world would have predicted that it’s McLaren versus Ferrari for the constructors and then Red Bull is out of it. It’s unpredictable,” he said.

“Red Bull has just completely dropped away, car performance and also the number two driver Perez is dropping away completely.

“Especially McLaren have just done such a phenomenal job with their car development, so for this season they’ve had, well second half of the season [they’ve had] certainly the best car. Unbelievable job at McLaren.”

Charles Leclerc deals Ferrari huge blow in constructors’ fight with Abu Dhabi grid penalty

Ferrari have not won the Constructors’ Championship since 2008, while McLaren’s last win dates further back to 1998, so both teams will be looking to fight all the way in Abu Dhabi to end their losing streaks.

McLaren lead Ferrari by 21 points heading into the race after the latter cut down the former’s advantage slightly in Qatar, thanks to Lando Norris‘ 10-second stop-and-go penalty leaving him finishing 10th.

But McLaren have been dealt a huge boost in their title hopes as Charles Leclerc has been hit with a 10-place grid penalty for a changed battery during FP1.

Norris and Oscar Piastri are favourites for the win in Abu Dhabi after displaying great pace during practice. However, Andrea Stella would not be surprised if Leclerc recovers from his penalty and is fighting for the top spots in the race.