McLaren predict Red Bull dip to be a mere ‘anomaly’ as Suzuka approaches

McLaren’s Zak Brown has predicted Red Bull will soon be back to form after their “anomaly” of a weekend in Singapore.

Having won the previous 15 races, it was a shock to see the RB19 suddenly struggle on the streets of Singapore. Max Verstappen managed to salvage P5 from his P11 starting spot while Sergio Perez finished eighth.

But Brown reckons that is just a blip in the otherwise invincible form of Red Bull this season, suggesting this will not be “the new norm” going forward.

McLaren expect Red Bull to bounce back from Singapore struggles

While it was a poor day for Red Bull, it was a good one for McLaren with Lando Norris scoring the team’s first podium since the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Afterward, CEO Brown described it as a “nail-biter” but praised the efforts of everyone associated with the team.

“It was a nail-biter,” he told Sky Sports F1. “What a just awesome job that the team [has done with] the upgrades. Lando drove perfectly and Oscar [Piastri] drove awesome. I mean just a great day for McLaren.

While Piastri may not have taken the headlines in the same way as Norris, Brown praised the Australian for bouncing back from an unfortunate early exit in qualifying.

“He drove great,” Brown said of the rookie. “The whole team just executed [it perfectly] and I couldn’t be happier.

“To go from 17th to the eighth in a place like this is not easy, he drove perfectly so a good points haul.”

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As for Red Bull, Brown was not confident that their struggles was a sign of things to come, remarking that it was most likely an “anomaly.”

“This was kind of an anomaly,” the American suggested. “Not quite sure why they weren’t on the pace as normal.

“I can’t imagine that it’s going to be the new norm. It’d be nice if it is but you know, I think clearly the field’s tightening up because they had to work pretty hard for it in Monza so it’s going to be an exciting seven races to go.”

Despite their struggles, Red Bull can still win the Constructors’ Championship this weekend in Japan provided they score one more point than Mercedes and do not score less than 24 points than Ferrari.

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