Red Bull easily dominated the 2023 Formula 1 season, but much of the credit goes, in addition to the RB19, to Max Verstappen, capable of making a big difference against all his rivals, including team mate Sergio Perez, who is struggling quite a bit to gain second place in the standings. A situation that led Ross Brawn to question whether or not it is correct for Red Bull to confirm the line up.
With just two races to go until the end of the season, it is now clear to everyone how 2023 was an extraordinary year for the Red Bull team, capable of dominating the championship far and wide, taking home both the drivers’ and constructors’ world titles and winning, so far, all the races held, with the exception of the Singapore GP.
A season which, in fact, shows the world the impressive strength of Christian Horner’s team, capable of putting a very fast RB19 on the track and even better than the 2022 model and, above all, capable of proving perfect in every area: from the designers, engineers, strategists to the drivers.
The spectacle produced and the show given is not the most desirable for some, however. In particular, Red Bull’s dominance was even worse than expected due, unlike what happened in other seasons and in other teams, to the total absence of an internal fight for the world championship.
From the Miami Grand Prix onwards, it was clear that Sergio Perez was unable to consistently get near the now three-time world champion Max Verstappen.
For this reason, in favor of the show and greater public involvement, the former general director of Formula 1 (as well as technical director of Scuderia Ferrari), Ross Brawn, speaking in a recent interview with “talkSPORT”, said he was convinced of the fact that Red Bull should change its driver lineup to ensure that the two standard bearers bring home maximum points and help the team to always push to the maximum at a time when, despite the absolute dominance in 2023, some rival teams seem capable of representing a threat in the future, especially in a moment of stable regulations and strong driver pairings.
“Even though they have this dominance at the moment, you’ll see that over time. And we’re seeing little indications. I mean McLaren with Norris and occasionally Piastri, knocking on the door, keeping them honest, let’s put it that way. I think during this winter I’m optimistic that that there will be a reset.”
Domination which, despite everything, could also last beyond this year, given that the RB19 was so good out of the box, the team directed by Christian Horner was able to plan the work and design of the 2024 car well in advance, gaining an advantage over its competitors.
“When you’re in front, you have the advantage of being able to start designing your new car first and that’s when dominance can sometimes last several years.”
Heading into the final two races of the season, Sergio Perez trails Max Verstappen by 267 points. That is by far the biggest gap between P1 and P2 ever seen in the Drivers’ Championship.
Ross Brawn has called on Red Bull to put someone else alongside the Dutchman so the sport can see an intra-team battle if Red Bull dominate again next year. His example given is the battles between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg that took place in 2014 and 2016 at Mercedes when they battled for the title until the last round.
“What I want to see frankly is someone more competitive in the other car because unfortunately Sergio isn’t giving Max much competition. And even when you get a dominant car, if you can get someone in the other car who’s giving him a run for his money to twist and we think of Rosberg and Hamilton, that was a great year and a year in which Mercedes dominated.”
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
