Max Verstappenpresent f1 championwinner of the last two World Cup titles played, is clear about the team that will be the main antagonist of red bull in the 2023 Formula 1 season. He has no doubt: “For sure, Mercedes will be our main rival.” It doesn’t matter that Ferrari was the great contender of energy drinks last year. For the two-time world champion, the red team generates more uncertainty. “Ferrari will be strong. But how much? Hard to say”the Dutchman declared at the presentation of the decoration that will be worn by his new car, the Red Bull RB19for season 2023.
Ferrari or Mercedes?
Ferrari began to dominate the first races of the new technical regulation of F1 which was released last year. He started with a superior car, especially on rough tracks, with fewer reliability issues than red bull. But those Milton Keynes they turned the situation around by solving their initial reliability setbacks and a major evolution of their car, with a higher top speed, especially with open DRS. Ferrari it also sank into strategic mistakes and pitfalls. Meanwhile, Mercedes started very far with a concept car that was different from the others, without sidepods, which caused many problems at the start. However, the stars finished the world with a lot of certainty, increasing many points with respect to Ferrari, endangering the second place of the Italians in general builders and even achieving a double victory over Russell in the penultimate race of the year, at Brazil. the latest quotes from Mercedes They were very positive, although they did not achieve the necessary regular fighting for all of them.
In this context, many doubts arise. It seems clear that after the improvement presented by Mercedes, they should not finally scrap their 2022 concept car in order not to lose another year and should refine the same base. Because of this, they start with more doubts than a Red Bull who will start the year knowing that it has the best car at the end of the last championship, making Verstappen a favorite.
For his part, Ferrari will start the course with a new boss, Frédéric Vasseur, with the need to still study what happened last year, which makes it more complicated for important changes to be applied to the ‘Scuderia’ from the start. Ferrari needs to improve many things: change the basic concepts of their 2022 car to have lower tires, one of their weaknesses against Red Bull, and also, they need to improve pit stops, techniques and the reliability of their engine. The ability to improve the durability of their thruster should allow them to increase power without fear of breaking to be more competitive.
In short, Mercedes and Ferrari have a lot of homework to do this winter. But Max, given the recent history of the stars, believes that those from Brackley will be good rivals. for the title, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell as strong contenders.
“It’s hard to say: At the end of the year, sometimes they seem to be together and sometimes not. It’s hard to say, because I’m not part of their team, if I fully understand everything.. I guess this year we will know if they understand everything they want to improve. They will definitely be our main rivals”, he commented to Mercedes.
“Mercedes has shown in recent years that it is always strong and has a good group of people. I am confident that our guys can build a good car and we will have a strong package against them.” added.
Another rivalry with Hamilton?
If Mercedes can finally find the key to its car and fight everything from the start in the 2023 season, the incredible and controversial battle between Hamilton and Verstappen could be repeated in 2021. Max does not rule it out. “(Lewis) has been one of the best drivers in the history of the sport, so surely if he has the car to do it, he can fight for the title again,” he told ‘Sky’.
“But it’s the same with George (Russell, Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes). It’s the same with Charles (Leclerc, Ferrari driver), it’s the same with Lando (Norris, McLaren)… If you give them a car capable of winning a championship, they can do it,” he said.
“But it’s also about, when you have the car, the pressure comes, you can’t afford big mistakes. That’s a bit different pressure, but I’m confident that once these guys get on a streak like that, anything is possible, everyone has the talent to do it,” he concluded.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
