Ahead of the 2023 F1 season, Max Verstappen had put in some predictions regarding the season. Now, heading into the last race of the calendar, the reigning World Champion looked back at them and revealed that he prevented the ultimate fantasy of Spanish fans from coming true to avoid allegations of match-fixing.
When asked about the most surprising thing that could happen in 2023, Verstappen claimed that Fernando Alonso would finally be able to win a race this season. He did turn out to be almost correct as Alonso came really close to winning a race, only to be thwarted by Verstappen himself.
Verstappen said, “I caused that not to happen of course. I could have made it happen. But also that’s match-fixing. You don’t want to have that either.” The Spaniard finished P2 behind Verstappen on three different occasions this season, at Monaco, Canada, and Netherlands, but was unable to catch up with the Red Bull driver.
Alonso found himself in a really good position at the start of the 2023 season, claiming 6 podium finishes in the first 8 race weekends. However, ever since then, Aston Martin’s performance started to fall away, and Alonso could not manage to fight at the front anymore, only to make a comeback on the podium in Brazil.
As for Red Bull, they did not allow anyone on the top step of the podium this season except in Singapore, where Carlos Sainz managed to become the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race this season. However, Verstappen made an incredible comeback right at the next race to restore his dominance on the grid.
Max Verstappen completely dominated the 2023 season
Even within Red Bull, it was Max Verstappen who completely dominated the season, managing to win 18 races out of the 21 held so far. On the contrary, his teammate Sergio Perez only managed to win 2 races, struggling majorly throughout the season.
The Mexican driver could only confirm his P2 in the standings at the Las Vegas GP, while Verstappen had claimed his World Championship title back at the Qatar GP, 4 races ago.
As for Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard failed to claim his 33rd-race win despite coming really close to it. However, it surely won’t be his last attempt at winning the 33rd since team principal Mike Krack confirmed that Alonso would be continuing with the team for quite some time.
