Another Formula One weekend ended in another dominant Max Verstappen victory, and to double the pain for his rivals, Verstappen also took victory in the sprint race at the 2023 Belgium Grand Prix. It was business as usual for Red Bull and Verstappen.
Even a five-place grid penalty and starting the main Grand Prix from 6th position on the grid–four places behind his teammate Sergio Perez–could not stop Verstappen from claiming victory by over 20 seconds from Perez in 2nd.
Red Bull Racing have now won all 12 Grand Prix races in 2023, with Verstappen claiming 10 of those victories, including the last eigh in a row. Everyone is asking who is most likely to stop the current Red Bull and Verstappen domination, and is this likely to happen any time soon.
Considering the ease with which Verstappen passed and then pulled away from Perez at Spa, it does not seem that Perez is at the same ability level as Verstappen. No one imagines, even in the same dominant Red Bull car, that Perez will be the driver to end the Verstappen victory streak. So, with Max Verstappen being so dominant over his teammate, it is most likely that the driver to end his current run of victories will come from a rival team. However, as recent races have proven, the team that finishes 2nd to Red Bull and Verstappen changes based on the type of circuit and conditions.
At Spa for the Belgium Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc benefitted from Verstappen’s grid penalty to take pole position and finish 3rd in the Grand Prix. However, before this weekend, Leclerc had finished in the lower end of the top 10 in races at Silverstone and in Hungary. The long straights and high-speed nature of the Spa circuit, much like in Azerbaijan and Austria, where Leclerc has previously finished on the podium this season, seem to suit the Ferrari car.
Is there a chance then of Ferrari securing a dream home victory at Monza in two races? Monza is known as the ‘temple of speed’ as it is mainly made up of long straights.
Before Spa and since adding significant upgrades to the car at the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren looked to be Red Bull’s closest competitor. Lando Norris had finished 2nd at both the British and Hungarian Grand Prix. However, in Belgium, McLaren suffered a disappointing race as Norris could only finish a distant 7th in the race, and his teammate Oscar Piastri was forced to retire following a first-corner collision with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
McLaren seemed to suffer in Belgium by opting for a high-downforce car set-up in the expectation of a wet race. The McLaren car and Piastri, in particular, looked to again be Red Bull’s closest competitor during the wet sprint shoot-out and race on Saturday. Piastri qualified 2nd in the shoot-out for the sprint race and went on to finish 2nd in the sprint race, and he even led the race briefly in the early stages. However, this form could not be maintained during the dry Grand Prix on Sunday. The hope for McLaren is that Sunday’s issues were due to car set-up. After the summer break, they should return to challenging Red Bull.
Finally, there is seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.
Even in an underperforming Mercedes car, Hamilton has proved capable of moments of individual driver brilliance. Most recently, this was confirmed by his pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix. There is always the chance that Hamilton can produce a moment of brilliance. If that happens, it is more likely to happen at a technical track where driver skill is needed more than outright pace and speed. So, Singapore (in three races time) could be Hamilton’s perfect opportunity to earn that long-awaited 104th victory.
No one wants to take anything away from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. However, Formula One is at its best when unpredictable, and there is a genuine battle for the win at every race. At the moment, it is far too predictable that Max Verstappen will cruise to victory. If Formula One wants to keep its fans engaged, then it needs the rest of the grid to challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen consistently.
