Max Verstappen and Red Bull are completely dominating the 2023 season, evidently. So far, Red Bull has won all of the races this season with Verstappen winning all but 2 races. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes it would be a fantastic season if not for Max Verstappen.
Throughout the season, multiple drivers have made their way up to the podium. However, one driver has made his way up in every single race so far. Max Verstappen won 10 of the 12 races this season. In the 2 races he didn’t win, he finished 2nd right behind his teammate, Sergio Perez.
“You just need to take Max out of the equation,” Toto Wolff said in a recent statement “The 2nd Red Bull is where we are. It would be a fantastic season and close racing. There’s just one guy, in one car, that is above everything else.”
🚨 The 2023 F1 season would be fantastic without Verstappen, says Toto Wolff
“You just need to take Max out of the equation, the 2nd Red Bull is where we are.”
“It would be a fantastic season and close racing.”
“There’s just one guy, in one car, that is above everything else.”… pic.twitter.com/MSiEP4bSUW
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) August 18, 2023
While the 2-time Champion is dominating up front, his teammate, Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull has been struggling since the Monaco Grand Prix, where he crashed the car during qualifying. Although he did show some decent performances in the last couple of Grand Prix, he is nowhere near the pace of his teammate, Max Verstappen.
Sergio Perez has a lot more experience in Formula 1 than Max Verstappen. However, the Dutch driver has been with Red Bull for a long time now and has made a mark for himself within the team.
Max Verstappen is currently leading the WDC with 314 points on the board. Sergio Perez who is in 2nd place has accumulated a total of 189 points. The Mexican driver is followed by Fernando Alonso who has 149 points and Lewis Hamilton with 148 points. So if we ignore Max Verstappen in the WDC, the battle for the Championship is pretty close between the supposed top 3.
Lewis Hamilton could win the Championship if not for Max Verstappen
If we count out Max Verstappen from the Championship, there are 3 drivers who look likely to challenge for the Championship. Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Perez will obviously be able to fight for the Championship given the position of his team.
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have been consistent throughout the first half of the season. However, the Aston Martin of Alonso has lost the pace they had at the beginning of the season. This has allowed Lewis Hamilton to catch up to him in points. As of now, he only stands 1 point behind Alonso.
Given the recent pace of the cars, Lewis Hamilton would be a serious contender for the Championship along with Sergio Perez. Of course, this is a hypothetical theory where we exclude Max Verstappen from the Championship.
Do you think Max’s dominance is hurting the sport? 🤷♂️#Vasseur #Verstappen #Formula1 #F1 pic.twitter.com/BCoVoYY35o
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) August 9, 2023
We have seen some incredible racing from the drivers behind Max. So we can be positive that it would be an exciting Championship fight without the Dutch driver. It would probably go on till the last race of the season.
Although it is nice to fantasize about this, the reality is that Max Verstappen is there in the Championship and is absolutely dominating the sport. He has clearly separated himself from the rest of the drivers. The Dutch driver is now entering an elite league of drivers who have won at least 3 Championships.
In the more likely chance that Max wins his 3rd Championship this year, he will have accomplished something that only a few drivers have. Winning 3 consecutive WDCs is not something easy. It has only been accomplished by Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Sebastian Vettel.
Let’s see how many more Championships Max Verstappen can add to his collection in the remainder of his career in Formula 1.