Max Verstappen has already won the Drivers World Championship three times in a row, and Sergio Perez, his teammate, is expected to finish first for Red Bull this season.
Support for the Red Bull star is starting to suffer as a result of Max Verstappen’s dominance in Formula 1.
With six Grands Prix remaining, Verstappen, 26, won his third consecutive Drivers World Championship. He is supported in every race by the Orange Army, a group of devoted supporters from the Netherlands, his home country. However, not everyone is a fan of the Dutchman; in fact, he was heckled when he stood on the podium at the United States Grand Prix last month.
Even after a record-breaking 17th victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend, Verstappen’s fan base is showing signs of “saturation,” according to the Dutch newspaper De Limburger. His dominance is seen as a drawback for Formula 1. “It’s a sign of the writing on the wall that even the most devoted fans of Max Verstappen are showing signs of saturation,” the newspaper said.
Lewis Hamilton is unconcerned with the criticism, despite the fact that many F1 fans, commentators, and drivers, including Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, would concur that Red Bull’s dominance this season is detrimental to the sport. After Red Bull’s lone loss of the 2023 season in Singapore, Verstappen asserted that those who don’t recognize the caliber of his team aren’t “genuine” supporters.
“For me, it was just we got beaten, in a very clear way,” the 26-year-old admitted. “I don’t think about what is good for Formula 1. I don’t think it’s necessarily bad what was happening to Formula 1 because we were just better than everyone else. And if people can’t appreciate that, then you’re not a real fan.”
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has stated that no team should be allowed to dominate in the manner that Red Bull have in 2023, with the Mercedes star telling Channel 4 : “We shouldn’t have a chance to dominate for a large number of years, the battle for top positions should be closer.
“Unfortunately, however, Red Bull could seriously dominate in the next three seasons as well. If we continue like this, maybe it will be Ferrari that will dominate in the next few years, or maybe McLaren will, or maybe Mercedes will come back ahead, but I think this is not the best thing for the fans.”
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, retaliated against Hamilton by saying on the Eff Won podcast, “I think he has selective memory.” As you can imagine, some of the victories [Mercedes] achieved during that time were downright outrageous. Although we’ve had a successful few years, Lewis is the one person who, in my opinion, shouldn’t be saying that.
Leave a Reply