Max Verstappen offers staggering assessment of F1 field, Red Bull dominance

If it is Thursday of a Formula 1 race week, it is media day. Speaking ahead of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, championship leader Max Verstappen told the media during press conferences that based on their race pace, Red Bull “can” win every race this season, but because of the uncertainty of F1, that remains “unlikely.”

“Now it looks like at the moment, I think we can [win every race],” he said. “But that’s very unlikely to happen.”

“There are always things that go wrong or you have retirements or whatever. But purely on pace, I think at the moment it looks like it,” added Verstappen. “But we will always get to tracks where maybe, it doesn’t work out exactly or whatever – bad luck in qualifying, you make your own mistakes.”

Verstappen was not alone in his analysis. George Russell, who was part of the first panel of driver press conferences Thursday, shared his thoughts on Red Bull’s pace this season, and how the rest of the field is trying to catch up.

“Like Max said, on pure pace, for sure they’ve got the potential,” agreed the Mercedes driver. “But certain things can happen and I’d like to think we’ll be able to fight at some point and take advantage of some misfortune down the order. But it’s challenging.”

Verstappen also addressed the dominant from we have seen from Red Bull this year, and concerns over whether that is good for the sport. As F1 looks to break into emerging fan markets, some wonder if the one-sided nature of this season will turn potential fans away. But as Verstappen sees it, this is just par for the F1 course.

“About the dominance, I mean, we’ve always seen this in Formula 1 – it’s nothing new,” said Verstappen. “I think the longer you leave the regulations the same, the closer people will get. So maybe this is something we need to look at.”

“You have the odd year or maybe two years where there are two teams fighting – maybe potentially a third team,” he added. “But overall, when you look back at the eighties, the nineties, the 2000s and the early 2010s, all the way ’til 2020, It’s been pure dominance of a certain team.”

Russell agreed with that line of thinking as well.

“I agree with what Max said – there’s always been dominance in Formula 1 and I don’t know how we get to a place where you can have multiple drivers and teams fighting for the championship, because I think that would be the best for the sport, best for all of us,” said Russell. “I think the fans would love it, but obviously you can’t always get what you dream for.”