Neither teammate Sergio Perez nor outside competition from Aston Martin and Mercedes can touch him on track. Just eight races into a 22-race season, Verstappen is sure starting to look like a lock for the 2023 world driver's championship..
A new Formula 1 season can mean a new balance of power, and this year three separate teams looked ready to threaten Red Bull at the front. Would Mercedes use the offseason to adjust away from its failed zero sidepod concept and get back to fighting for wins? Would Ferrari figure it all out and threaten Red Bull on a weekly basis? Would Aston Martin turn incredible pace in testing into time at the front of the field? Through eight races, the answer to all three questions is a resounding no.
After taking victory in today's Canadian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has now won six of eight Formula 1 races contested in 2023. In the two he failed to win, teammate Sergio Perez was able to pick up the slack and ensure a Red Bull victory. The energy drink-owned team has not only won every race this season, Verstappen and Perez have yet to actually see any real pressure from the opposition in any of those races.
14 races remain in the 2023 season, and nothing has been determined mathematically. In theory, Ferrari could strike on a perfect adjustment and win every single race remaining this season. In theory, Red Bull could lose both engines in-race for six straight months while Mercedes strings together a series of huge victories. In theory, Fernando Alonso can turn what seems like a lock on the spot immediately behind Red Bull's healthy cars to a surprising late career run of dominance.
History suggests that a start like this, with no serious threat from another team in those eight races, will end with Red Bull and Max Verstappen running away with a title. It creates a somewhat awkward situation for Formula 1, which has seen an explosion of fan interest over the past five years and was able to show those new fans a championship fight going down to the wire as recently as 2021. Now, those new fans get to see the other way an F1 title race can go.
Max Verstappen still has just under two thirds of a season to find a rival, but right now, this sure looks like another season without any serious competition. Unless that happens, Verstappen is the latest driver to turn a dominant Adrian Newey design into a title run so dominant that it looks effortless.
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