In almost every race weekend in the 2023 season, we are witnessing greatness from one Max Verstappen. The sheer display of dominance is unprecedented by the Dutchman. With 10 races to go and 10 wins already, there is a belief Verstappen will go all the way and break his own previous season’s record of 15 race wins. The Red Bull man’s consistency is making these records look like easy targets when they’re anything but that. Although, even greatness attracts criticism and Verstappen’s 2023 season greatness is being labeled boring by many, including an F1 mogul. However, a recent revelation not only disproves this prophecy but also showcases how Verstappen’s dominance is smashing the American record.

Even though all appreciate the week-after-week displays of brilliance Verstappen is putting up, he is also attracting criticism. Many F1 entities, including Eddie Jordan, have blamed Verstappen for making the sport boring. However, the host of the VF1 podcast Vincenzo in the latest episode revealed some statistics that shred these allegations to bits.

Vincenzo said, “Speaking of numbers, popularity, hype, and whatnot, first half of the year wrapped up. The numbers from ESPN, ABC, and Disney came out. So what was interesting is that the numbers went up, slightly! Very very slightly. The 2023 average US viewership, this is only US viewership we’re talking about, went up slightly over last season.”

“Last season was a record-breaking season, we’re going to hear ‘record-breaking’ constantly with this thing. It was an average of something about 30,000 was the actual number. But the 2023 season had three of the four largest live audiences ever on US TV. Miami, Monaco, and Canada, all taking over the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th all-time spots with the Miami GP 2022 was the largest with 2.6 million,” he added.

He also went on to talk about the 18 to 49 age group demographic, which put up huge numbers for the 2023 Belgian GP. For this demographic, the Belgian GP was the most viewed program on Sunday. This even trumped the hugely popular NASCAR viewership numbers with 500,000 viewers tuning in.

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These numbers completely shut down all the “boring” allegations F1 is receiving at the expense of Verstappen. Although even his set of critiques there are a lot of admirers and Verstappen has collected a big bunch.

Despite the “boring” allegations, race-winner Johnny Herbert enjoys watching Max Verstappen

Even though many question Verstappen’s dominance over a prolonged period of time, there are some living at the moment and enjoying it while it lasts. Former racer Johnny Herbert is one of them as the Brit is awestruck with Verstappen’s dominance. Herbert expressed his appreciation towards Verstappen’s dominant displays without indulging in the GOAT debate.

“I always enjoy watching him, and I always get wowed at what he does. Just as I got wowed by what Lewis [Hamilton] did only a couple of years ago, it hasn’t finished for him yet, but there was a wow factor to him,” said Herbert. “I enjoy what he’s doing at the present time but where he is in the pecking order is a hard one because the times are so much different than what they were.”

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Verstappen might sustain such levels of consistency for a very long time, but there are still doubts about his extended future in the sport. It will be interesting to see how many records can the Dutchman put under his name before he retires.