Reigning Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen and Red Bull have had a flying start to the 2023 season as the team has won all eight races, with the 25-year-old himself winning six of them. The Dutchman and his Red Bull team have shown such dominance despite their massive $7,000,000 cost cap penalty.
The Milton Keynes outfit incurred this penalty towards the end of the 2022 season for breaching the cost cap limit in 2021. Alongside the whopping fine that they have to pay, Red Bull was also ordered to reduce their wind tunnel testing for 12 months from October 2022 onwards by 10%.
Since Red Bull has managed to come out on top despite all these hurdles, arch-rival Lewis Hamilton has given his unfiltered opinion on the same. The seven-time F1 world champion seems disgusted with the “small” penalty given to Red Bull for breaching the cost cap.
Lewis Hamilton slams Red Bull’s “small” penalty
After winning his second championship last season, Max Verstappen is also on course to win his third title this year after an exceptional start to the new campaign. The Dutchman’s dominance has been such that arch-rival Lewis Hamilton seems irked by it.
In a recent interview ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, the Briton slammed Red Bull’s cost cap penalty. As quoted by motorsport.nextgen-auto.com, the 38-year-old said, “I don’t think they suffered from their penalty. It didn’t cost them anything. Certainly no, their (aero) penalty was so small!”
Hamilton‘s frustrations just did not end there as he also urged the FIA to change the rules to prevent Verstappen and Red Bull from dominating the sport year after year.
Hamilton is desperate to stop Verstappen’s dominance
In the same interview, Lewis Hamilton added that the FIA should “probably set a time when everyone is allowed to start developing next year’s car“. The 38-year-old made these remarks as Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has already confirmed that they have begun working on next year’s car.
Hamilton believes that it is unfair that teams like Red Bull get so much time over their rivals to prepare for next year’s car. Since the 38-year-old seems so irked by Red Bull and Max Verstappen‘s recent domination, he has also given Mercedes a major suggestion.
Hamilton has advised his team that their focus should not be to win a race this year and that they should think more about the longer term. He stated that the Silver Arrows should focus on making sure that they build a strong enough car to fight for the championship next season.
Other than stopping Verstappen’s recent domination, Hamilton may also have records on his mind. The 38-year-old is currently tied with legendary F1 driver Michael Schumacher on seven world championships and could hold the record to himself if he wins another title. Now the onus is on Mercedes to provide him with a car that is quick enough to fight for the title next year.
