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Formula 1 2023: British GP SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, UNITED KINGDOM – JULY 09: Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing and Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG during the post-race press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz during the British GP at Silverstone Circuit on Sunday July 09, 2023 in Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. Photo by LAT Images Images EDITORIAL USE ONLY GP2310_154209JBP_0272
![](https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/imago1031590314h.jpg)
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Formula 1 2023: British GP SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, UNITED KINGDOM – JULY 09: Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing and Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG during the post-race press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz during the British GP at Silverstone Circuit on Sunday July 09, 2023 in Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. Photo by LAT Images Images EDITORIAL USE ONLY GP2310_154209JBP_0272
Lewis Hamilton v/s Max Verstappen is probably the best battle in F1 in the last decade. They have gone wheel-to-wheel to produce some sublime racing action for fans. And during such battles, Verstappen has been known to be a bit aggressive. Judging by the 2023 British GP, Lando Norris might have taken Hamilton’s place. But Verstappen wasn’t at all aggressive at the start at Silverstone. So why did he not attack Norris in Lap?
“Don’t give me hope”, said Lando Norris’ fans and Max Verstappen‘s haters after the start of the British GP. Norris got a better start and snatched P1 from the Dutchman. But once Verstappen got his tires warmed up, he easily overtook Norris on Lap 5. Speaking about the lack of aggression from Verstappen in Lap, Matt Baker asked the following question to Bernie on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
“Do you think Max raced Lando differently at the start for two reasons: First of all, knowing that he’d get him eventually once they got their tires going and the super-duper DRS? And Secondly, that he wasn’t Lewis Hamilton?”
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Collins said, “He hasn’t been very aggressive at any of the starts. He’s very rarely, actually lost a position off the line but he’s been much more conservative than he was in the past. And I put that down to the car having more than enough pace at some point in the race. He doesn’t need it off the line even at the tracks that are difficult to overtake. He doesn’t feel forced into that very aggressive Lap 1.
“So I think it is more confidence in car pace than it is the Lewis effect,” concluded Collins. “He has this buffer where he doesn’t need to be Turn 1, Lap 1, in P1 in order to win the race.”
Like it or not, Max Verstappen’s dominance is here to stay for a while. And with the win at the British GP, he helped Red Bull equal a record that McLaren and Ayrton Senna held since 1988.
Christian Horner Lauds Max Verstappen for Matching Another Record That Ayrton Senna Held
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With the win at the Canadian GP, the Dutchman had equaled Senna’s record of 41 wins in F1. That got Red Bull their 100th win as well. And at the Austrian GP, he made it 42 wins, surpassing Senna in the record books. At Silverstone, Verstappen’s victory extended Red Bull’s win streak to 11. With that, they have equaled the record that McLaren and Senna held in 1988.
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Formula One F1 – United States Grand Prix – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, U.S. – October 23, 2022 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrates winning the United States Grand Prix with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
Horner said, as quoted by Mirror, “It’s an incredible record. 1988 when the McLaren-Honda achieved those 11 victories with (Ayrton) Senna and (Alain) Prost. To think that we’ve matched that, that’s testimony to the hard work of the team, of the commitment, of the drivers, of reliability, strategy.”
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If the 2-time champion can keep this sense of calm while dominating the grid, there is no extent of what he can achieve in F1. Red Bull and Verstappen, both are lucky to have each other.
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