Max Verstappen and Red Bull have dominated the 2023 Formula 1 season in a way that has seldom been seen. Red Bull have won all 12 races so far, with Max winning 10 of them. The latest installation of their dominance was the Belgian GP where the Dutchman won by 22 seconds from Sergio Perez. This was especially dominant considering he started in 6th place following a penalty.
Max Verstappen and his cheeky antics
The weekend was earlier dominated by fiery radio waves between Max and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase (GP). However, during the Belgian GP, Max brought out his cheeky self as he romped home to a comfortable win. While leading the race, GP told Max to not push his tyres and bring the car home. Max replied he would like to push for a bigger gap and do an extra stop for the fastest lap. He further commented this would be some extra practice for the team’s pit crew.
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This was a reference to this year’s Austrian GP. While leading the race with a big margin, Max realized his teammate, Sergio Perez, had the fastest lap. He made an extra stop right at the end to steal it from Perez. GP was quick to shut him down this time around. He just told him, “Not this time.”
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Toto Wolff sees the merit behind the comments
While his fans would have been delighted, a lot of people would’ve seen this as cocky and arrogant. Toto Wolff stated, however, that the Dutchman had earned the right to be cheeky. He admitted Max is driving circles around everyone else on the grid. And he is doing this on merit. This gives him the right to be a little tongue-in-cheek while in the lead.
Toto claimed the rest of the field was on par with the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez. According to him, if you take Max out of the equation, the field is very close. The combination of Max and Red Bull is just a step above everyone else on the grid. He remained firm that Mercedes had improved from 2022, despite a larger gap at the end of the Belgian GP. The Mercedes Boss admitted that Red Bull and Max had just taken a step further. He hopes to close the gap to Red Bull in 2024. Will Mercedes be able to challenge Red Bull? Will Max’s dominance end? We will find out in due time.
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