Looking at Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez vanishing into the distance at Baku, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was reminded of his own dominant days in 2016. Following Red Bull’s effortless triumph in Baku, Wolff had commented that F1 had now become “boring” because of the Milton Keynes masterclass. While this was a common complaint when Mercedes sat on their throne, Wolff chooses the same words against his current rivals.
Verstappen and Helmut Marko roll their eyes at Wolff’s complaints. Marko advised Wolff to look at his own history before making any statements against Red Bull. “I don’t understand all the fuss, but I think Mercedes was much more dominant at the time than we are now. Maybe Mercedes should focus on delivering better work.”
In fact, the championship battle is anything but boring. When Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were battling it out in the fastest cars on the grid, the championship fight was between them. And as any F1 fan can remember, that battle was far from boring.
Red Bull is just repeating history. In a good or bad way, that’s left to be said. However, Marko defends his team from these allegations. “The battle for the world championship is completely open with only six points difference between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Moreover, the midfield has come much closer together.”
Max Verstappen asks Wolff to be patient
Max Verstappen too, had a sharp-tongued response to Wolff. Verstappen understands why Wolff would think so now. “That is of course because he was winning himself then”
As with every sport, not all the sessions will be exciting and filled with suspense. F1 is no different. The Dutch Lion stated, ” You simply cannot manipulate everything to create tension. This is simply part of sport.”
And some Grand Prix has the potential to be so exciting. The Australian GP is rarely in the discussion as a top 5 dramatic circuit. Yet this season, it has produced the most drama so far. So he asks Wolff to hold his horses. “Sometimes, you expect crazy things to happen in a race and then nothing happens, while when expectations are low the craziest things can happen.”
Looks like Verstappen is ready to take the battle to Perez with some tricks up his sleeve. Are we in for a repeat of the Silver War- the Red Beef?
