Red Bull has had an immaculate start to the F1 2023 season, winning the first eight races to establish a commanding lead as they appear to cruise through back-to-back titles. History seems to be repeating again as last time they had won 4 titles back to-back with Vettel.
Max Verstappen’s command over the sport has significantly taken a hit in Canada as Mercedes, Petronas, Aston Martin, and Ferrari all launched their new upgrades which are going against Red Bull’s excellent development division.
However, there was still a 9-second gap maintained by Max and that was after a safety car, hence the catch-up game by other teams still needs to undergo a lot of improvement.
Everyone assumed not one single team would be dominant after the FIA’s new ground effect rules which capped the budgets along with restrictions on how much time each team could spend in the wind tunnel. Surprisingly, Red Bull looks like it benefited from this rule as visible in their recent performances.
FIA Director’s warning aimed at Red Bull
Like many ardent race fans, FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis also would like to see a 2021 season-like rivalry in the sport. In his recent comments to Corriere della Sera, he said,
“Putting Red Bull aside, everyone else is close and I think it’s only a matter of time before performance convergence is achieved. Maybe it will be achieved in the next few months, maybe it will be early next year.”
He is banking on how many upgrades the other teams are bringing to the table. He also pointed out that other teams are trying to mimic what Red Bull has done in their F1 car.
“Almost everyone is going towards the Red Bull technical concept – even Mercedes and Ferrari,” Tombazis commented.
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— FIA (@fia) June 22, 2023
Which F1 team can break Red Bull’s supremacy?
Both Mercedes and Aston Martin F1 teams seem to be burning their midnight oil in order to compete with the Red Bull car. Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff claims that the team will definitely try to bring updates to the W14 in the British Grand Prix which is scheduled to be held at Sun, 9 Jul, 7:30 pm.
The upgrades are clearly working for both Mercedes and Aston Martin as they both recently finished the race with a podium in hand. Ferrari, even though is monetarily backed equally is not able to catch up to the teams beside them. Driver error, strategy mishaps, and technical difficulties are just some of the excuses we have heard over the months on the radio.
What is your take on Max’s recent dominance? What do you think the other teams should do to catch up? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
