Webber says Verstappen “was educated” to expect more competition from Mercedes in 2023

Former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber has said Max Verstappen was ‘too polite’ in predicting more competition from Mercedes in 2023 and believes the Dutchman’s new dominance

Max Verstappen secured the championship Formula 1 don’t worry in 2022, with an absurd dominance that led him to conquer 15 successes in 22 races. And the Dutchman has already stated on a few occasions that he hopes to have more competition this year, amid the late growth of Mercedes and the possible correction of many errors by the Ferrari. Mark Webberon the other hand, he has a different opinion.

The Australian, former pilot of the Red Bull and currently an entrepreneur — for example, he manages the career of the young Oscar Piastri -, he said he expected another year of dominance from the Dutch driver and the Austrian team, which in the race would have “given a lesson” to the competition for last year’s cup .

“I think it’s very kind of Max [Verstappen]“Webber told the portal Motoring. “I still think Red Bull will be the most dangerous team again at the start of the season. They gave the others a little lesson. Once Max got comfortable in the car, there was no stopping the rest “, he said.

“As a team, Red Bull quickly resolved the reliability issues they had at the start of the season,” he said. “Consistency was the main problem for the opponents. Red Bull were strong on all tires at the end of the year, strong on high downforce circuits and strong on low downforce circuits,” he stressed.

Apart from seeing Red Bull as the strongest team in the championship, Webber sees no weaknesses in Verstappen’s current leadership. For the Aussie, Max has found himself in a different category at times during the season, something like ‘F1 Plus’.

As an argument, Sebastian Vettel’s former teammate highlighted the Dutchman’s performance in the Belgian Grand Prix 2022, when the champion started fourteenth and took the lead in just 12 laps, cutting through the group with an absurd superiority. Carlos Sainz was still leading for two laps after the Dutchman stopped, who took the lead again on lap 18 in order not to let go.

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“They left no weaknesses,” he continued. “And I think Max, individually, has no weaknesses. So they gave the competitors a headache. For Max, it was like ‘F1 Plus’ last year. Spa was the best time for me, the way he climbed up the platoon,” he recalled.

Finally, Webber admitted he did not know when Mercedes switched focus to the 2023 car, as they were not involved in last year’s title fight. It will be interesting for him to observe the differences in the order of forces when the championship starts, on March 5, with Bahraini GP.

“We don’t really know how much Mercedes gave up on something last year. Quitting is not the right word because it’s always about learning for next year,” he said. “But the main question is how they split the R&D capabilities between last year’s money and next year’s money under the budget cap. It will be fascinating to see how the first part of the season goes.”

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Source: Terra

Camila

Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.