Max Verstappen has been dominant this season, with most drivers failing to put up any sort of challenge to the Dutchman. The only driver who came close was his teammate Sergio Perez who also has the powerful RB-19 at his disposal. However, as per OE24, there’s one team that can put an end to Verstappen’s dominance and stop the winning streak according to Helmut Marko.
Admittedly, Mercedes, Aston Martin, and McLaren have all shown promising signs this season. It was Fernando Alonso who began the year with back-to-back podiums and was close to Red Bull, then came Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton, who managed to claim a pole in Hungary.
In the end, it was McLaren who showed an incredible comeback and threatened the Austrian team in Silverstone. Nevertheless, they still failed to cross the finish line ahead of the Dutch driver.
Marko knows who can be a threat to Max Verstappen
Marko, in his recent interview spoke about the threat that Verstappen and Red Bull might have at Monza. Verstappen is on a nine-race winning streak, whereas Red Bull has won 14 in a row. According to Marko, Ferrari is the team that is most likely to end this run.
Ferrari, being the home team can be of incredible threat to the Dutch driver and his team. Talking about this, Marko said, “For that to happen, Max would have to have a technical defect. But, if we’re going to be beaten, then I’d give it to Ferrari — Especially at Monza.”
Even though the Red Bull had a dismal season for the majority of 2023 so far, the Italian Grand Prix can be a redemption for them. Furthermore, the SF-23 is believed to be generally quick around the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, which could be a turning point for the Scuderia.
Charles Leclerc is hopeful of beating Verstappen one day
The 2022 F1 season saw plenty of Max Verstappen versus Charles Leclerc battles, especially towards the beginning of the year. They went toe to toe with each other in almost every race until Red Bull built a huge gap on Ferrari in terms of performance in the latter stages.
Even though there were expectations from Tifosi on Ferrari’s resurgence, the valiance did not repeat coming into this season. The Italian team are much more inferior to their Austrian counterpart.
However, Leclerc is still hopeful of beating his Red Bull rival one day just like he did last season. He reckoned that everyone must work in the same direction in order to get the better of Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
