Max Verstappen has absolutely obliterated the F1 grid in the 2023 season. However, not everyone approves of this dominance, as people have claimed that Formula 1 is becoming boring because of a single-team monopoly. Quite surprisingly, Verstappen himself admitted ahead of the Canadian GP that he would like some competition as well.
One team dominating the grid has become the norm in F1 as of late. It was the same case when Mercedes racked up eight consecutive championship victories from 2014 to 2021. And it is the same with Red Bull now.
The Milton Keynes outfit seems untouchable at the moment. The fact that the closest car to Red Bull has always finished at least 20 seconds behind them in the last four races proves it even further. Fans were bored with the Hamilton era a few years back, and now, it is the Max Verstappen supremacy that is causing the problem.
Max Verstappen wants more competition
Ahead of the Canadian GP, Verstappen spoke about the issue that fans are facing due to his dominance over the sport. He explained that he completely understands how it becomes boring after a point in time to watch a single driver win all the races.
He said, “For the sport in general, I understand that people get bored when one team dominates. We’ve also seen it with Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull in the past.” Verstappen continued, “I hope more teams can get closer. So that there is another team that can win if you have a very small problem or if you don’t get the setup 100% right.”
However, when asked whether winning is becoming boring for Verstappen himself, the Dutchman was quick to refute. He said while laughing, “This is way better than anything.”
With a win in Montreal, Verstappen would catch up with Ayrton Senna’s record of 41 wins. However, the Red Bull Maestro is quite humble about this record. He explained that the numbers do not really matter because there are much more races in the calendar now than what used to be during the times of Senna.
When will the Verstappen Show end?
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has made it very clear that there will be no interference from the governing body to stop Red Bull’s influence. He claimed that Red Bull has reached this place through their own merit and the onus is on the other teams to catch up.
Domenicali explained that the sport has always seen cycles where one team has dominated. The most that F1 can do is to make sure that these cycles get shorter in the future.
With how things stand at the moment, it is expected that this Red Bull dominance will continue till 2026 when the next set of rule changes will come in. British reporter Ted Kravitz also believes the same.
2026 will also see the entry of Audi in F1. Therefore it would be interesting to see how the equation shapes up then.
