Scuderia Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has rejected the notion of Max Verstappen “damaging” Formula 1 amidst his dominant streak this year. The Red Bull driver has been on a remarkable winning streak, securing victory in 10 out of 12 races in the 2023 Formula season, including the last eight consecutive races from Miami to last weekend’s Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Over the past 23 Formula 1 events, spanning back to the 2022 French Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has triumphed in 19 of them, accumulating an impressive 221 points out of the last 224 available since his winning spree began in Miami.
At the Spa-Francorchamps track, the Dutchman claimed victory by a commanding 22.3 seconds, coming off a 33-second triumph at the Hungaroring circuit the previous week. Despite the current and future world champion’s dominant performance, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur contends that it is up to rival teams, including the Maranello team, Mercedes, Aston Martin, and McLaren, to step up their game and challenge Red Bull for the top spot. The focus should be on improving their own performance rather than attributing Max Verstappen’s success to any detrimental impact on Formula 1, as explained by the Frenchman:
“We have to collectively do a better job. Everybody is in the same situation: we are all a bit inconsistent, with one or two-tenths between P2 and P11. It is not that Max is damaging [F1], Max is doing a fantastic job and it is just that we have to do better. We can’t complain about Max or Red Bull. It is quite impossible to split between driver and team [who brings more performance]. The driver is also developing and setting the car up and that is part of the performance. For sure, when you see the result and there is a big difference between the two teammates, that is not my issue, but the issue of Red Bull.” – the Scuderia Ferrari team boss pointed out in an interview at the end of the Belgian Grand Prix, the last round until the summer break.
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