Max Verstappen has admitted that he understands the frustration of the fans about the Formula 1 dominance of himself and Red Bull.
The Dutchman has led 155 consecutive laps since taking the lead on Lap 48 of the 2023 Miami Grand Prix and secured his third Grand Slam in F1 at the Spanish GP last time out. His lead in the championship was extended due to Sergio Perez’s fourth-placed finish in Barcelona.
Red Bull’s star man hopes more teams can figure out their cars to give him and his team more competition should they not be on point for any given weekend.
“It’s nice sometimes to have good competition,” Verstappen told the media ahead of the Canadian GP. “Honestly, I enjoyed 2021 but I also enjoyed the way 2022 went.
“Of course, we had some reliability issues and the car was a bit heavy but it was also quite dominant towards the end.
“For the sport in general, I understand that some people get a bit bored when one team is dominating. We saw it with Mercedes, we’ve seen it with Ferrari in the past and with Red Bull.
“I hope that more teams can get it together then at least that means that if you have an issue or can’t get the setup fully 100 per cent, there is another team who can win.”
Hamilton’s record hard to beat
Verstappen will move level with three-time champion Ayrton Senna on 41 F1 wins if he wins the Canadian GP but he will remain 62 behind Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen begrudgingly admitted that the Brit’s tally of 103 would be a tough one to overcome with the uncertainty of the future and not knowing whether he will have a title-winning car every year.
“That’s going to be very hard to beat,” Verstappen said of Hamilton’s win record. “You need to be in the right car for a long time and we don’t know if we have that.
“It’s not something I ever look at; I’m just going with the flow and enjoying the moment.”
