FIA will not slow Red Bull down: 'Not right to punish their dominance'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The 2023 Formula 1 season has been dominated by Red Bull. Only in Singapore did a car not belonging to the Austrian team manage to run away with victory (Ferrari with Carlos Sainz). The team has managed to win all but one Grands Prix, such is the dominance of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The FIA has no intention of 'punishing' Red Bull for their supremacy in the sport.
Chairman Mohammed Ben Sulaymen spoke to the media, including Autosport.com, about Red Bull's season. While there are noises here and there that the FIA and Formula 1 should intervene to make the races more exciting (for example, by suddenly changing the current regulations), the president appears to be anything but in favour of that.
Ben Sulayem points to Hamilton and Schumacher
“It [domination] has happened so many times: just look at Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher,” Ben Sulaymen said of dominance in F1. "How to stop? It's a bit harsh and not right to go and punish success. I'm open for suggestions if you think that there is a way to be fair and to be democratic, and not to just punish Max and his team or any other team. We're all ears here really."
Incidentally, Ben Sulaymen is not alone. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, Red Bull's big rival, previously said that he is not in favour of doing all kinds of tricks just to stop Red Bull's dominance. Wolff acknowledged all his opponents' good work and said he will do everything possible to catch up with his team.
It remains to be seen how long Red Bull will keep dominating F1. Finally, there will be a major change in the regulations in 2026. From then on, Red Bull will also introduce their in-house-built Red Bull Powertrains, the power unit for Verstappen and his teammate.