Brundle: 'Verstappen is at a level that will take some serious beating'
Martin Brundle sees that Max Verstappen has set the bar extremely high for next season. In his column for Sky Sports Brundle analyses Red Bull's dominant season and wonders if anyone can even come close to Verstappen next year.
There is no disputing that Verstappen dominated this year. The Dutchman finished the championship with a lead over Charles Leclerc of almost 150 points, meaning Verstappen could have crashed out five times without being in danger for a moment. Among constructors, that lead was extended as much as 200 points over Ferrari.
Brundle therefore acknowledges in his column that nobody could fault Verstappen or Red Bull this year. "A tale of numerous pole positions and victories along clever strategies, fast pit stops and strong reliability. Congratulations to them all at the track and in the factories, it was immense. Nothing can take away from the fact that they have had a completely dominant season."
Verstappen sets the bar high
Looking ahead to next season, Brundle wonders if anyone can even come close to the reigning world champion. "I already described Verstappen's driving style as 'Michael Schumacher-esque'," said the analyst. "It seemed however slow he was driving his car to preserve tyres he was still pulling away from the field. Max is at a level which will take some serious beating in the next few seasons."
In view of the tension in the competition, Brundle does hope that Ferrari and Mercedes can close the gap to Red Bull. He also hopes that someone from midfield can climb to the front, for example Alpine, McLaren or Aston Martin, so that the battle for the title next year will be more exciting than this season.
There is a small chink in RB's Armor. Perez. If Ferrari or even Mercedes clean up their act, both teams have driver pairings that will make it difficult for Max to win next year. Yet, it is highly unlikely that Ferrari and MB will experience a turnaround to an extent where both their drivers can deliver consistently throughout the season. That is where Max will showcase his superiority, yet again.
Ferrari have had the stronger car most of the time this season. Merc were also strong at certain tracks. This season was not a fight between only two drivers of one team. We saw a lot of times three different teams on the podium or in Q3. This was not the case in the Merc times, but then again, they had the partymode advantage which put them on pole for many many times. I think that’s why the dominance of MV will be also in 2023 if he gets a stronger car which is even more dominance to other teams als Merc had for years. But I hope the field will close the gap and we can see more close racing and more winners! Hope Nando will get’s his first win, because he is also one of the most talented drivers in the field together with LH and MV and Alonso.
What will 44Legend and Vegan do if Max wins another championship in 2023? As Lewis' legacy is further exposed, what will these types do with their time? Max and Schumacher are very similar. What a compliment for Max to be compared to someone who I believe was the greatest I have ever watched.
They'll do the same as they always do. Live in an alternate reality
Im glad that they now have more followers here,nice move rport.
I think CL will fancy himself favourite against MV if the team and himself can cut out the mistake. I think ferrari know that they had the ability to challenge MV and RBR this year but threw it away. The most poles this season and still lose the championship by so much is quite shocking. The pair at MB will both feel they have the edge over MV if given a car with at least similar pace. LN, I don't think he fears anyone and is a huge F1 talent. Give him the right car and he'll beat anyone. The fact is its not MV that will be the deciding factor if he is so dominant again but RBR. If they can provide him with a car that's up there then he can get the best out of it. But I just think MB have the best driver lineup and with them pair I think 2023 could be another 2016 but who will come out on top is anyone's guess. Again, just opinions, we won't know for a few months yet but it's exciting!!!!
Max could have crashed out five times without being in danger for a moment..........This is going to be hard to beat!!!!
Leclerc did DNF nearly that many times so its no as insurmountable as all that.
Leclerc reliability DNFs: -Spain -Baku Leclerc race ending crashes: -France Verstappen reliability DNFs: -Bahrain -Australia Max could have DNF'd five more times (four more than Leclerc did) and still won this year.
It was the first year of new regs and Redbull got it right. Ferrari's design destroys the tires too quickly and Mercedes had issues with porpoising and drag. I think it will be closer next year but Max's talent will lead him to another championship.
He can’t be beaten in the same car , Others will need his second a lap advantage to beat him . Just a fact .
Of course he can't be beaten in the same car by #2 drivers that are being signed to serve him.Like honestly, what do you expect? ?
Sainz has already said it at Canada after failing to beat Max. One needs to have atleast 4 tens of advantage to beat Max - Sainz.
No.They need more than 4 tenths of delta time to beat that rocketship.
Oh the one that Perez was using to catch Charles and came 3rd..............No!
Cars will never be the same,with same pace he can be beaten as we have seen.He was favoured more than Perez in some races.we all know.
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