Max Verstappen has acknowledged that Red Bull is facing increased competition as their rivals continue to claim race victories.
The Dutchman, who has dominated Formula 1 since winning his first world title in 2021, is still leading the drivers’ championship, but the era of Red Bull’s dominance appears to be waning. Red Bull is currently 71 points behind second-placed Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, despite Sergio Perez not finishing a race in the top three since April.
This season has already seen six different race winners after 12 grands prix. In the entire 2023 season, only Sergio Perez (Baku, Jeddah) and Carlos Sainz (Singapore) managed to prevent Verstappen from sweeping all the races. Mercedes, having won the last two races, head into this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix with momentum, and Verstappen is aware that Red Bull’s era of dominance could be coming to an end.
“We had some great years,” the three-time F1 champion said at last week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. “Of course, this year also started off really competitively, and now everyone’s catching up a bit. Every race is a proper battle as well, so it’s great.
“I think that [theme] will continue for the rest of the season, so it’s really unknown what is going to happen, and that’s great for the sport.” He added, “In general, it’s just great to have so many fantastic drivers in F1 making it difficult to win. I think everyone was waiting for that as well, and that’s definitely what F1 fans want. To have this competition among so many different teams is great. It’s going to be an exciting rest of the year.”