Lewis Hamilton & Max Verstappen Take the Heat For “Boring” F1 Season

Red Bull has established their dominance very easily in the 2023 season. Just two races in and the season is already pretty predictable. On the other side of the spectrum, Mercedes, who had promised a miracle, has already given up on any prospect of the title. And thus, the Max Verstappen – Lewis Hamilton storyline becomes stagnant, with Fernando Alonso bringing all the spice.

Overall, the first two races of the season have been yawn-fest up front, while most of the action takes place at the back of the grid. The usual story of Verstappen suddenly creating a sizable gap, or cars in front of him backing down from a battle, has robbed us of the thrill of a challenge. On the other hand, watching Hamilton settle for numbers that just aren’t meant for him, has only made the season more gloomy.

However, the underdog story has been catching the eyes as fans from the Red Bull and Mercedes camps cheer on for Aston Martin. With Alonso impressing each weekend- with maneuvers, overtakes, and radio messages; the man is carrying the show.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen prevented from putting on a show

Jeremy Clarkson was highly critical of the lack of flair in the sport. With the team having too much control over their drivers, he looks at the protagonists of the most entertaining season in F1, and oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Lovely move from @LewisHamilton on Sunday 👏pic.twitter.com/geiv11N61r

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 23, 2023

At Mercedes, the two drivers dilly-dallied across the circuit, and when the tensions rose- Hamilton on the rear wing of his teammate, the team instructed George Russell to simply go faster. Clarkson questioned, “George solved the problem by driving more quickly. Why didn’t he do that in the first place?”

Now looking at the reigning champions, Red Bull ruined the race with the whole Perez-Verstappen drama. “To stop them from doing any racing, each of the drivers was told to do the same speed as one another.”

https://twitter.com/redbullracing/status/1637613171899879426?s=20

Although he understood the situation, Clarkson did not agree with it. “I know there are boring reasons for this, tire wear and saving the engine and so on, but I wonder how many people would watch athletics if they thought half the competitors were not going as fast as they could. To prolong the life of their shoes.”

A fair reaction, considering so many changes have been made to facilitate more racing. However, strategy has clearly become king in F1.