Verstappen untouchable?

[Monty]

It seems that RBR have spent (legally and illegally) all their development money on making the car perfect for Verstappen. Last year Perez was close (actually faster at  Jeddah) but this year, based on free practice, Verstappen seems to be over half a second faster than his team mate. Although both were still much faster than the rest of the field 🙄. Unless someone (Ferrari ?) are sandbagging, Max will disappear into the far distance tomorrow 😕

[Warmwater]

Oops, Maybe not so invincible. Checo should also check his driveshaft before the race.

[rmassart]

Oops, Maybe not so invincible. Checo should also check his driveshaft before the race.

Given the superiority and barring a crash or mechanical failure, I predict MV will be in the points by the end of lap 1, on the podium by about lap 12 and on Checo's tail, if not in the lead, after his first pit stop.

[Monty]

I know FP isn’t conclusive but on long runs Verstappen was over a second a lap faster than  all of the mid-field runners and had the highest straight line speed. This would suggest it will be relatively easy to get back towards the front.

[Dare]

Alonso is the surprise. With some luck we just might
see him on top of the podium this year. I hope anyway

[cosworth151]

Given the superiority and barring a crash or mechanical failure, I predict MV will be in the points by the end of lap 1, on the podium by about lap 12 and on Checo's tail, if not in the lead, after his first pit stop.

If he doesn't take himself (and a few innocent bystanders) out on the first lap in a banzai start. I'm really worried about him taking out one or both of the Haas cars starting just in front of him.

[Willy]

I can't see him working his way through the field with any kind of patience or care. He will do what he usually does, be a bull in a china shop and barge his way past those he feels are inferior.
I believe RBR has hidden actual costs and spent way more than allowed to develop the cars they have. Who does the books that they show to the FIA anyway?
Two, or three sets of books is a common way to hide assets....ask any accountant

[rmassart]

Given the superiority and barring a crash or mechanical failure, I predict MV will be in the points by the end of lap 1, on the podium by about lap 12 and on Checo's tail, if not in the lead, after his first pit stop.

Well, my prediction was pretty much correct, even if it took him a little longer to catch up. Having missed the opener, I didn't watch this race either, so it's not clear to me why MV couldn't get passed Perez.

Hamilton's comments leave me thinking I will not be watching many races this season:

“I’ve definitely not seen a car so fast,” he said. “When we were fast we weren’t that fast – that is the fastest car I have seen, especially compared to the rest. Max came past me with some serious speed.”

Someone wake me up when the rest of the field have caught up!

[John S]

Hamilton's comments leave me thinking I will not be watching many races this season:

“I’ve definitely not seen a car so fast,” he said. “When we were fast we weren’t that fast – that is the fastest car I have seen, especially compared to the rest. Max came past me with some serious speed.”

Someone wake me up when the rest of the field have caught up!

Think a proper translation of what Lewis said is - I haven't seen that sort of overspeed since my championship winning years when I was in the superior Merc W05 thru W11. 

I'd rather take an opinion from the perspective of mid field drivers like Lando, Gasly, Ocon or even Alonso on this. After all they've been sitting ducks for Lewis in previous seasons. Be interesting to see if they feel the Bulls are further ahead than the Mercs were in earlier years. 

Not easy to make proper comparison if you've been mainly making easy overtakes from car superiority for so many years, Lewis, now is it?

 

[Monty]

I have never seen a car superiority so great. RBR has produced a car specifically for Verstappen so he has a massive edge over Perez but both of them have cars that accelerate better, corner faster and have higher top speeds than anything on the track.
In my massively biased world, that is solely because they overspent the budget caps in 2021 and 2022. Whatever the reason, the end result is that they are in a completely different class, F1+ if you like, and it is ruining the 2023 season!

[Dare]

I have never seen a car superiority so great. RBR has produced a car specifically for Verstappen so he has a massive edge over Perez but both of them have cars that accelerate better, corner faster and have higher top speeds than anything on the track.
In my massively biased world, that is solely because they overspent the budget caps in 2021 and 2022. Whatever the reason, the end result is that they are in a completely different class, F1+ if you like, and it is ruining the 2023 season!

The 1988 McLaren MP4/4 

[rmassart]

And what a season 1988 was.  A real classic. Both drivers on more or less equal wins. Senna became champion because he had more points from his 11 best. Prost had more points overall.

Don't see Perez having any chance against Max. Partially because he is simply not in that league and partially because the team won't let him challenge Max in a meaningful way.

And that is the problem here. It's not the RB dominance. It's the Max dominance. Sure 1988 was boring as hell if you were not in a McLaren. But for the fans it was a fantastic season, even if like me you were a suffering Mansell fan (12 retirements from 14 starts!).

[Monty]

I had forgotten 1988 so I stand corrected. However, that was an era when the best technology won and well before regulations were intended to level-up performance

[rmassart]

I am not sure anyone has an issue with one team being in a different league to the others. It happens quite regularly and pretty much consistently for the last 20 years: Ferrari, RedBull, Mercedes, RedBull - with the odd hiccup (the five years after the Schumacher/Ferrari dominance). It's when only one driver in that team is realistically going to win or when there is a clear number one in the team. But with Max being only 25, the fear is a decade of this Max Verstappen roadshow!

[cosworth151]

I'd also mention Fangio & the Merc W196 in the mid-50's. Discounting the Indy 500, which counted for F1 points back then, he won 7 of 8 points paying races in 1954. He finished 3rd at the final race of the season in Spain with a failing engine.