Max Verstappen emerged victorious for the seventh time in the 2023 season when he took the chequered flag at the 2023 Austrian GP. Charles Leclerc, who was closest to him in terms of pace never threatened his quest for glory, and after the race, Verstappen admitted in the interview that his victory wasn’t as sweet, because of the unfair advantage he has over the Ferrari driver.
There have been nine races so far in the 2023 season, and Verstappen has won seven of them. To say he is dominating the sport would be an understatement, and he took it to the next level in Spielberg last Sunday. Leclerc did lead the race for a short amount of time, but when Verstappen pitted for medium tires towards the end of the race, there was nothing the Monegasque driver could do to prevent Verstappen.
In fact, Verstappen was so confident of his abilities and the RB19, that he decided to pit for soft tires on the second-last lap so that he could go for the fastest lap. His lead over Leclerc was cut down to just over two seconds, but it didn’t matter, because he coasted to victory in the fresh soft-tires, and also got an extra point for the fastest lap.
Max Verstappen calls his advantage over Charles Leclerc unfair
Verstappen and Leclerc have battled very closely over the last two years, whenever the Ferrari was good enough to challenge the Red Bull. Those battles have been very well received by fans, and even Verstappen, who lauds the 25-year-old for his strong hard racing.
Unfortunately for fans, the SF-23 cannot keep up with the RB-19 for too long, which prevented Leclerc from launching a strong offensive on the Dutchman. This, Verstappen feels, gives himself a very strong advantage.
“It was good,” he said at the pot race interview. “But also, a bit unfair, the tire advantage I had and also the general pace advantage.”
Verstappen went on to praise Leclerc’s racing skills and cited last year’s Austrian GP as an example. The two drivers treated fans to an exciting duel in the Styrian hills in 2022, a battle in which Leclerc came out on top.
Unstoppable Verstappen marches towards his third title win
Verstappen was the favorite to win the race even before it started in Spielberg. Ferrari’s initial pace may have given fans of the Maranello-based outfit some short-lived hope, but pretty soon, it was clear that Verstappen was going to win his eighth race of the season.
Red Bull has now won all nine races of the championship so far, and their fate looks to be sealed. They have the chance of becoming the first constructor to win every single race in a season if they keep up their dominance.
Even if they fail to do that, they are most likely going to emerge victorious in the constructors’ championship standings for the second year in a row. Max Verstappen meanwhile, has more points alone than the entire Mercedes team who are P2 in the standings. He is well on his way to winning his third world title.
