Verstappen Will Continue To Win Races in 2023 if F1 Rules Do Not Change
The F1 season is in full swing since the chequered flag was first waved in Bahrain back in March. There has been no surprises as to who is dominating the podium so far with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen top of the F1 Standings.
The Dutch racer currently sits in 1st place with 195 points from his six wins and eight podiums. His Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez sits below him in 2nd with 125, giving Verstappen a considerable lead as we approach the midway point of the racing season.
In fact, at the time of writing Red Bull have won every race on the calendar so far with Max leading the charge.
Wynbett odds on Verstappen winning the Drivers’ World Championship have him as heavy odds on favorite and there is seemingly nothing his rivals can do to stop him. A win this year would bring him to three in as many seasons.
However, Verstappen and more acutely Red Bull’s dominance in F1 over the last few years has not come without controversy. Murmurs of discontent among rival drivers and teams first came to light in 2022 following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
After introducing new design regulations for last year’s campaign, cars began to bounce which left drivers in pain. The Baku surface is notoriously bumpy and after Lewis Hamilton complained of severe discomfort the FIA stepped in.
They introduced a limit on the level of “vertical oscillations” and forced teams whose cars were bouncing to alter their setups. While this was a move made to protect drivers, it seemed to be a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’ for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton.
What they wanted was a rule for each team that would force them to raise their cars but what they got was a team-specific change.
The running of a car higher off the ground of course means they will struggle to reach their maximum speed. As Red Bull never had any issues with porpoising, this handed them a major advantage.
Following the change, Mercedes would win just one GP for the remainder of the season. Verstappen on the other hand would win six more races after winning just once previous, before securing his second Drivers’ World Championship in a row.
While 2022 was the first time we heard teams complain of Red Bull’s advantage, technical insight into the 2021 season also revealed this to be the case.
2021 aerodynamic regulations limited the downforce contribution of the floor and diffuser. This seemed to have far less impact on the balance of Red Bull’s RB16B than it did on other cars.
These regulations not only help with the downforce but also with tyre wearing and heating. Red Bull’s high rake setup also helps and plenty of teams have tried to mirror this setup ever since they had been characterized by the team.
Hamilton has again come out this season to complain of rules and regulations making it hard to keep up with Verstappen and co. Since they already had the best car last season and with regulations on aerodynamic features in their favour, all they have had to do is improve slightly while other teams worked on fixing theirs.
But what can be done to stop them? While Verstappen is already seemingly out of sight this season, there are some potential changes that could jeopardize his dominance.
There were new regulations brought in at the beginning of 2023 designed to bring cars closer together. However, this didn’t seem to have much impact on Red Bull at all.
This is where things could get ropey for Verstappen however as many suspect rules could be changed to rein in their lead. It has almost become the norm for the governing body to enforce new rulings to curtail dominance, see Mercedes.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has insisted that this will not be the case, saying it is part of a ‘natural cycle’. However, while Verstappen was the pre-season favorite for the Drivers’ World Championship this level of supremacy was not quite expected.
The most obvious change to make that may affect Verstappen would be a blanket raising of cars, as opposed to the team-specific change made after Azerbaijan last season.
While their success is of course not just down to their aerodynamics, it is quite clearly a major advantage they hold over other teams.
Whether rules are changed or not this season though, a Verstappen win come November seems inevitable. As the leader of the pack, he is already a considerable margin ahead of the rest and there are no signs that he and his team are going to let up any time soon.
