In a surprising moment in 2021, Red Bull ace Max Verstappen ended the subtle hegemony of rival team Mercedes and their star driver Lewis Hamilton. He broke the British driver’s title-winning streak in 2021. Since then, Red Bull and Max have never looked back. Moreover, they reached another level of dominance. Max Verstappen has won 25 Grands Prix in the last one and a half years. On the other hand, Red Bull has won four more overall. That’s how dominant the Dutchman has been. In the last three years, Max Verstappen has managed to maintain an equal or more than ten race-winning averages.
There are still ten more races to go. What if the Dutchman wins all of them? He will become the first driver to win 20 races a season. Anyway, Verstappen was the first driver to reach the 15 Grand Prix winning margin. However, at present, Max Verstappen is enjoying a 125 points lead over his teammate, who is in second place. Regarding this, the Mercedes boss told the media that if Max were not driving RB19, the season would be very enjoyable.
Toto Wolff Wants Verstappen Out Of The Equation
Chief Toto Wolff is hopeful that Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to catch up to Sergio Perez in the second half, but Max is just too far ahead. But as per Mercedes’ boss, the stopwatch never lies. Currently, Max Verstappen is ahead of everyone else. Hence, others can only play catch up as there is nothing else to do. Toto Wolff says it would be great if the races were more competitive. But one driver in one car is proving his superiority time and again. On the other hand, the rival, Mercedes, has been struggling with their car since last year.
They have shifted their focus to the next year’s car but say they will keep pushing the W14 car to its limit in the remaining races. Red Bull drivers are over the moon at present, especially Max. Other team drivers like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are 40 and 41 points behind Sergio Perez. It will be extremely difficult for other drivers to fight for second place. Only Alonso and Hamilton can still try to beat Sergio Perez. But they know how fast the RB19 car can be even when Checo is driving it.
Max Verstappen Is Enjoying An Unprecedented Hegemony
If somebody had doubts about what Max could do this year, then they must not have any anymore. Red Bull has not given any chance to other teams to win a single race. Coming to the summer break, after 12 races, Max only let his teammate win a couple of races in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Baku, Azerbaijan. Nobody has seen a driver win as many races in a single season.
Moreover, Lewis Hamilton never won more than eleven races in a single season of the turbo-hybrid era. Mercedes dominated from 2014 to 2021, with Lewis Hamilton winning six titles in that period. On the other hand, Max Verstappen is on his way to win his third consecutive title. He may not stop any soon, as he recently said in an interview that his motivation is staying number one. Moreover, the future will depend on the car, he said, hinting at the 2026 engine regulations.