Max Verstappen challenges Lewis Hamilton as Red Bull star responds to 'bored' F1 fans
Max Verstappen has challenged Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton to put themselves in a position where they can compete for Grand Prix wins. The Dutchman has won back-to-back F1 world titles and dominates the drivers' championship again this year after winning six of the first eight races.
Verstappen led from start to finish for the third race in a row on Sunday, winning the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of Aston Martin star Fernando Alonso. The victory put the 25-year-old 69 points ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez at the top of the F1 standings.
Meanwhile, Red Bull are 154 points clear of Mercedes in the constructors' championship standings. And Verstappen insisted he wanted rival teams to give him a battle. "Of course, I hope more teams can come together, so at least even if you have a little problem or whatever or you can't get the setup 100% complete, there's a another team to win," he explained.
Before Red Bull's rapid progress following F1 rule changes ahead of last season, Mercedes had won eight consecutive constructors' championships, with Ferrari also enjoying long stretches of dominance in the past.
And Verstappen admitted he was well aware that having a team that wins all the time can take away some of the excitement in sport. "I understand of course that people get a bit bored if only one team dominates," the blockbuster star added. "We have seen it also with Mercedes, we have seen it with Ferrari in the past, we have seen it with Red Bull in the past.
"It's good sometimes to have good competition. Honestly, of course I enjoyed '21 but I also enjoyed how '22 went. Of course, at the beginning, we had some reliability issues, the car was a bit heavy, but at some point the car was also very dominant at the end."
In this year's team standings, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari are all in contention to be second best in the paddock. And FIA boss Nikolas Tombazis recently said he expects Red Bull's dominance to fade eventually.
"Red Bull aside, everyone is close and I think it's only a matter of time before performance convergence is achieved," the 55-year-old said. "Maybe it will be achieved in the next few months, maybe it will be at the beginning of next year. Almost everyone is heading towards the technical concept of Red Bull, even Mercedes and Ferrari."
Max Verstappen has challenged Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton to put themselves in a position where they can compete for Grand Prix wins. The Dutchman has won back-to-back F1 world titles and dominates the drivers' championship again this year after winning six of the first eight races.
Verstappen led from start to finish for the third race in a row on Sunday, winning the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of Aston Martin star Fernando Alonso. The victory put the 25-year-old 69 points ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez at the top of the F1 standings.
Meanwhile, Red Bull are 154 points clear of Mercedes in the constructors' championship standings. And Verstappen insisted he wanted rival teams to give him a battle. "Of course, I hope more teams can come together, so at least even if you have a little problem or whatever or you can't get the setup 100% complete, there's a another team to win," he explained.
Before Red Bull's rapid progress following F1 rule changes ahead of last season, Mercedes had won eight consecutive constructors' championships, with Ferrari also enjoying long stretches of dominance in the past.
And Verstappen admitted he was well aware that having a team that wins all the time can take away some of the excitement in sport. "I understand of course that people get a bit bored if only one team dominates," the blockbuster star added. "We have seen it also with Mercedes, we have seen it with Ferrari in the past, we have seen it with Red Bull in the past.
"It's good sometimes to have good competition. Honestly, of course I enjoyed '21 but I also enjoyed how '22 went. Of course, at the beginning, we had some reliability issues, the car was a bit heavy, but at some point the car was also very dominant at the end."
In this year's team standings, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari are all in contention to be second best in the paddock. And FIA boss Nikolas Tombazis recently said he expects Red Bull's dominance to fade eventually.
"Red Bull aside, everyone is close and I think it's only a matter of time before performance convergence is achieved," the 55-year-old said. "Maybe it will be achieved in the next few months, maybe it will be at the beginning of next year. Almost everyone is heading towards the technical concept of Red Bull, even Mercedes and Ferrari."
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