Despite Being Unstoppable, Max Verstappen Misses the Thrill and Excitement of His 2021 Battle With Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen has been unstoppable in F1 for the last two years, and a lot of it is down to Red Bull’s dominant car. However, despite coasting to victories and leading races from the very get-go, Verstappen admitted in an interview that he misses the competition he faced in the past, particularly in 2021.

Verstappen was always regarded as a promising talent in the world of F1, but he finally showed his true potential during the 2021 world championship. After years of being under Mercedes’ shadow, Red Bull finally built a car that was good enough to challenge Lewis Hamilton for the title.

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Hamilton and Verstappen collide at Turn 2!

They are both out of the race #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/6uuh7NhfZ4

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 12, 2021

Throughout the season, Verstappen had his share of highs and lows. However, one cannot deny the excitement that was built up ahead of every single race. The title battle went down to the wire, and only a controversial decision in the last lap of the season finale, that went in Verstappen’s favor, separated him from Hamilton. This is something that the 25-year-old driver misses.

Max Verstappen admits to missing competition from the rest of the F1 grid

So far, we are seven races into the 2023 season, and Verstappen has won five of them. The RB-19 is by far the strongest car on the grid, and no team is currently close enough to break its winning streak. Hence, Verstappen is once again the favorite heading into the 2023 Canadian GP this weekend.

Journalists brought up the question of Verstappen’s dominance, not this year, but in his championship glory last year. To it, Verstappen admitted that he did like it, but he also missed facing competition. “It’s nice sometimes to have good competition,” he said as quoted by Pit Debrief. “Honestly, I enjoyed 2021 but I also enjoyed the way 2022 went.”

“Of course, we had some reliability issues. And the car was a bit heavy. But it was also quite dominant towards the end.”

Verstappen emerged victorious in the 2022 championship with four races to spare. On top of that, his brilliance also guided Red Bull to their first constructors’ title win since the 2013 season.

Verstappen understands why people are bored and wants more teams to join the fight

Throughout the second half of the 2022 season, and so far this campaign, fans have been complaining about how boring F1 has become. Red Bull seems unstoppable, and the neutral fans have grown accustomed to seeing Verstappen winning almost every single race.

Of course, from a driving point of view, Verstappen is enjoying the way things are going. However, from a sporting perspective, he understands why the fans are upset. Ahead of the Canadian GP, he said, “For the sport in general, I understand that some people get a bit bored when one team is dominating. We saw it with Mercedes, we’ve seen it with Ferrari in the past and with Red Bull.” 

A simply perfect weekend 🙌

To win here again is absolutely incredible! What a pleasure to drive a car like this! 👌 This is down to all the hard work on track and at the factory @redbullracing 💪

A big thank you to everyone in the team and all the fans for your support 👏… pic.twitter.com/xjEBtYkoEv

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) June 4, 2023

Talking about the coming races, Verstappen more teams can get closer to them. That way, in case Red Bull slip or have some reliability issues, other drivers stand a chance of winning a race, which would be good for the fans.