The final outcome of this Formula 1 season seems to be almost certain, with Red Bull continuing its dominance from the second half of last year. It’s as if it were competing in a completely different championship from the other teams on the rest of the grid.
At Silverstone, the Austrian team conquered the tenth victory out of ten races, but the even more astonishing data concerns Max Verstappen. The Dutchman leads the standings by 99 points after winning eight of those ten.
At the moment no other driver is doing what he’s doing, and if he continues in this direction he could become three-time world champion even sooner than expected.
In an interview with Motorsport.com, Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of F1, expressed his respect for what the Dutch driver is achieving.
“I have to say first that Max [Verstappen] is fully deserving of the success he is experiencing, you just have to take your hat off,” Domenicali stated.
“Obviously I’m not denying that I’d like to see championships with a close confrontation right up to the last lap of the last race, like in 2021, but without the Abu Dhabi controversy,” he said referring to the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP that saw Max Verstappen become an F1 world champion for the first time – and deprived Lewis Hamilton of his 8th.
“At the same time it is important for the new fans that we have acquired to have icons that become representative of the sport on an ongoing basis. For example, if you talk to me about tennis, a sport of which I’m not an expert or an assiduous spectator, names of great champions come to mind who maybe are no longer active today.
“The drivers that characterise an era help the new generations to find important reference points, then, I repeat, I hope that we will be able to see more teams and more drivers able to contend for world titles – right up to the last race – very soon.
“I believe that the budget cap system will bring the teams ever closer,” he added.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem also commented on Red Bull – and in particular – Verstappen’s dominance:
“If we go about what’s good and bad we’ll open the door,” Ben Sulayem stated to The Associated Press.
“I mean, was it good for Mercedes? Fair enough. It is [Verstappen’s] time, it’s Red Bull’s time. What do we do and punish the good kid? No, let’s go and make the other teams good.
“Nobody’s stopping the other teams from being better. We cannot punish people for being better, for trying harder. That is unfair,” he concluded.
