Fred Vasseur and the ‘problem’ of Red Bull
Red Bull has won all 12 races held so far in 2023. Max Verstappen has triumphed on ten occasions, Sergio Perez on two, in Saudi Arabia where the Dutchman was eliminated in Q2 and in Baku, Azerbaijan, a hunting ground for Checo who outperformed his illustrious teammate in all sessions. Max Verstappen himself defined the Azerbaijan weekend as where he learned the most about using the Red Bull RB19, with which he started an eight-race winning streak from Miami to Spa-Francorchamps.
What makes the two-time champion’s record impressive are the gaps Max Verstappen has imposed on Sergio Perez, who also went through a true Qualifying slump with a disappointing five missed Q3 entries from Monaco to Silverstone. Frederic Vasseur highlighted the performance gap between the Dutchman and the Mexican without delving too deeply into what is objectively an issue for Red Bull: “There’s clearly a significant performance difference between the two drivers, but this is primarily a problem for the Milton Keynes team that I don’t want to get involved in,” said the Ferrari team principal in an interview with Autosprint magazine.
Red Bull the only team with a lead driver
Red Bull has handed over the team “keys” to Max Verstappen, who holds a contract with the Milton Keynes outfit until 2028, and the Dutch driver is on track to win his third consecutive title. In the last 15 years, Formula 1 has witnessed three cycles of victories with Red Bull at the “extremes” of the Mercedes dominance that began in 2014 and ended in 2021.
Max Verstappen has taken the mantle from Lewis Hamilton, who had in turn inherited it from Sebastian Vettel. The only “intruder” was Nico Rosberg, the 2016 world champion in a home Mercedes battle against Hamilton.
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The 2016 example is what Frederic Vasseur referred to at the beginning of the season to reinforce his principle of not having a designated lead driver within the team. It’s a policy the French manager intends to continue, as he reiterated to the historical Italian weekly magazine: “We can afford to have two drivers with the same opportunities and resources. If one of them is in the title fight at some point in the season, I will focus two hundred percent on that driver. But that’s not the case at all right now. At the start of the season, there’s no number one and number two. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are exactly on the same level, they’re equal. It was like this before and it will be like this in the future. Even Mercedes treats Russell and Hamilton the same way. And the same goes for Gasly and Ocon or Alonso and Stroll. The only team with a lead driver is Red Bull.” – the French manager pointed out.
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