Max Verstappen responds to fan disappointment that he can’t be beaten

Michelle Foster
Max Verstappen stands on his RB19 and celebrates. Canada June 2023

On a six-race winning streak and with some fans fearing he can’t be beaten, Max Verstappen says dominance is part of Formula 1 and no, he’s not bored racing alone at the front.

In fact, he says, he finds it motivating trying to make the gap “even bigger”.

Having won the 2021 World title when he came out on top in a tense battle with Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen fought back from a troubled start in 2022 to retain the crown. This year he’s cruising to a third without any competition in sight.

Max Verstappen cruising to a third successive World title

Winning eight out of 10 races, six on the trot with Red Bull’s first British Grand Prix victory in a decade, Verstappen has raced out to a 99-point lead in theDrivers’ Championshipover his team-mate Sergio Perez.

Such is his prowess he could finish second in all the remaining 12 grands prix and still beat Perez to the title even if the Mexican driver were to win every one and take the fastest lap point.

Even factoring in the sprint races, he’d only need to win two of those and finish P2 in the remaining two to win the title.

It has fans worried that with today’s form Verstappen cannot be beaten.

第四频道,把他的司机回答ing: “It’s Formula 1 at the end of the day. I mean, it happened before in F1. You only have like the odd season or one or two seasons in a row where maybe there are a few more teams fighting. That’s very, very rare in the sport.

“Of course with the new regulations we are trying to bring it closer and I do think if you compare it to like 20 years ago it is already a lot closer.

“It’s all so professional now. We were doing a good job but about just not making mistakes. I’ll try not to make too many mistakes in a weekend and that’s what we are really aware of and what we tried to eliminate.”

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But is it boring winning all the time and with such a huge margin?

“No, it’s the opposite,” he said. “I think I would get bored if I don’t see the opportunity to fight for a win.

“For me now actually fighting at the top I’m really very motivated. I love what I’m doing but also the challenge of actually wanting more, trying to stay on top, trying to actually make the gap even bigger. That’s probably my motivation.

“So it’s not for me, it’s definitely not boring.”

Verstappen joined Red Bull in 2016 but was made to wait until 2021 to grab his first World title as he watched Mercedes romp from one World title to another.

“It’s paying off now,” he added. “I’m of course very happy in the situation I’m in but also for the whole team w all had a bit of a rough time.

“They had four years of great success with Seb [Vettel] and then we were going through like a rough patch but we never gave up and we kept on pushing to try and be back on top.

“And we are of course on top at the moment. But now we wanted to stay there because we know how it feels when you’re not on top.”

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