Max Verstappen dominates the 2023 F1 season. In Monza he won his tenth race in a row and that is a record, but neither Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff nor Lewis Hamilton were impressed.
At the start of the race weekend in Monza, Hamilton stated that Verstappen has never had such a strong teammate as he did in his time. Toto Wolff said that records are only good for Wikipedia and that no one is interested in them.
Martin Brundle, now working as an analyst at Sky, disagrees.
“The fact that Max Verstappen won ten races in a row and that Red Bull has won all fifteen races so far this season is really something to admire,” the ex-F1 driver wrote in his column for Sky Sports after the Italian Grand Prix. .
“What an achievement to maintain that level of performance and reliability flawlessly on many different tracks and in different weather conditions, against some mighty opposition.”
“Congratulations to everyone!”
“For example, if a tennis player, football or rugby team were this complete and dominant, they would rightly be globally acclaimed at the highest level, just like this duo,” said Brundle. “Sport can and should be tribalistic, but you should definitely value a level of excellence in others as well.”
“I was therefore a little surprised and disappointed that Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff downplayed this performance over the weekend, as they were rightly given the credit and recognition due to them during their years of total dominance from 2014 to 2020.”
Although he does not approve of Mercedes’ attitude as a sore loser, Brundle also believes that, for example, exceeding the budget cap has not done any good to Red Bull’s reputation.
“At the same time, Max and Red Bull will no doubt reflect on a few actions and words from the past that have diluted their current valuation in some quarters,” Brundle said. “But that’s all to be expected when you put so many intensely competitive people in the same room.”