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Max Verstappen could rule F1 for the next three years, warn Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc
With eight wins in a row, another victory in Zandvoort would draw Dutchman level with Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine set in 2013
Max Verstappen’s current stranglehold on Formula One is likely to last until at least 2026, according to rivals including Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc who believe only major regulation change can halt the Dutchman and his all-conquering Red Bull team now.
The sport reconvened at a soggy Zandvoort circuit yesterday following its annual summer break, with the wet conditions set to last all weekend.
But it was the forecast for the next few seasons, rather than the next few days, which was chiefly responsible for the rather gloomy mood in the paddock.
Formula One, it is fair to say, is reeling from Red Bull’s current hegemony. The Milton Keynes-based team have now won 22 of the last 23 races, including all 12 so far this season. Verstappen – streets ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez – has been responsible for 10 of those wins, including the last eight. If he prevails in his home grand prix this weekend, the 25 year-old will match the record for most consecutive race victories in F1 currently held by Sebastian Vettel.
Formula One has experienced these sorts of dynasties before, of course. Ferrari during the Michael Schumacher years and Mercedes with Hamilton to name two just this century. But no team has ever gone through an entire season unbeaten, which is what many are predicting Red Bull will do this year.
“I think there’s a high chance [Verstappen] will be winning every race,” Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Hamilton admitted on Thursday. “We’re hopeful we can challenge him at some point, whether this weekend or elsewhere. And if there are any mistakes, if there are any mishaps, we’ll be right there to try and capitalise on them. But he hasn’t made many and the team haven’t made many this year. So yeah, they might win everything …”
Ferrari’s Leclerc agreed, adding it would be a few years before any team could consistently challenge Red Bull given the way Formula One operates, with the 10 teams now on a set development path until 2026 when a new engine and chassis package is introduced. “It’s going to be very, very difficult to catch them before the change of regulations,” predicted the Monegasque.
“The fact is [Red Bull] are far ahead and most likely have started developing next year’s car already months before everybody else,” Hamilton said. “They are 100-200 points ahead in the championship, so it is very, very possible that Charles could be right [about no one catching them until 2026]. We’re working on a steep gradient trying to develop and get ourselves to close the gap. Whether we can, next year will be proof.”
For all their superiority, this weekend’s race at Zandvoort is actually something of a banana skin. The wet weather looks likely to hang around for the weekend, making the circuit, which features steep banking in amongst coastal sand dunes, far more of a lottery.
Hamilton will no doubt be doing a rain dance before bed every night. Not only would a wet track, as he said, “spice things up”, increasing the likelihood of Verstappen making a race-ending error or getting caught up in some other accident or incident, but Mercedes’ temperamental W14 actually performed reasonably well in the wet at Spa last month.
“At Spa, which is not a strong circuit for us, when it rained we were performing quite well,” he noted. “I’m hoping that’s the case again this weekend if it is wet... I’m hoping that we’re closer and within shooting range of a podium.”
That may seem like a modest ambition given all the years he spent gorging on success, but Hamilton was defensive about Mercedes’ achievements this season, arguing that their campaign as a whole was actually very impressive. The Brackley team, who began the season with the fourth or fifth fastest car, are now a solid second in the championship, a fact Hamilton said had been largely “overlooked”. “It’s a huge achievement,” he said. “I’m really proud of the team.”
His teammate George Russell agreed. “We’re far from where we want to be because we want to be fighting for the championship,” Russell said. “But to call P2 in the championship, 50 points ahead of P3 at the moment, a ‘failure’ is far from the reality.
“We know we’ve got a lot to improve and we’ve made a lot of really good progress, so hopefully we can be there to pick up any pieces that fall our way.”