Fernando Alonso praises Racing Bulls: “With Max Verstappen they would fight for the title”. Fernando Alonso praises the Racing Bulls after their Dutch GP podium with Isack Hadjar.

Double podium for the Red Bull family

The Dutch Grand Prix turned into a memorable weekend for Racing Bulls, who celebrated a sensational and fully deserved podium thanks to Isack Hadjar. The French rookie crossed the finish line in third place, right behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. This outstanding performance allowed the Faenza-based team to climb to seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship, just two points behind Aston Martin. And it was precisely from Aston Martin’s star driver, Fernando Alonso, that Racing Bulls received one of the most significant compliments, directed at the squad currently led by Alan Permane.

After the race at Zandvoort, the two-time world champion paid tribute to the work done by Red Bull’s junior team, hinting quite openly that the VCARB 02 built in Italy might actually be a stronger package than the more famous RB21 from Milton Keynes.

“With them, Max would be a title contender”

“Racing Bulls always have a plan,” Alonso told Spanish outlet AS, after heavily criticising his own team’s strategy. “If Verstappen were in that car, he would be fighting for the championship. We saw it earlier in the year with Tsunoda, who was always in the top six and then suddenly started getting knocked out in Q1 [at Red Bull].”

The reality is that the difference in the standings between Red Bull and Racing Bulls is almost entirely down to Max Verstappen. Without the 205 points scored by the Dutch champion – an extraordinary 95.7% of the team’s total – the Anglo-Austrian outfit would be bottom of the Constructors’ Championship. Racing Bulls, on the other hand, have already comfortably surpassed their 2024 points tally and are now aiming to match the sixth-place finish in the Constructors’ standings that they last achieved in 2021.