Max Verstappen & Co. Warned of Ferrari’s “Surprise Box” as Rivalries Heat Up

As FIA brought in a slew of changes in car regulations, 2022 became a season of a lot of firsts. While other teams struggled to adapt to the regulations, Red Bull had one of the most dominant runs F1 has ever witnessed. Max Verstappen, in the middle of it all, broke records left, right, and center while accumulating a record 15 wins in the season. While all this was happening, Ferrari showed some signs of resurgence, which eventually faded away. But a new season marks the end of that story and the beginning of a new script that each team will write on its own. How will it all pan out? Renowned F1 experts have given their verdict.

Knowing now how the season panned out for Red Bull, no one would believe how bad of a start they had. Facing weight issues with the car, they had 3 DNFs from as many races, to begin with. However, once they got that under control, it was all smooth sailing. Charles Leclerc took good advantage of that situation while he could, accumulating 46 points over the Dutchman. While he eventually finished 2nd in the standings, his teammate Carlos Sainz was never in the hunt. He believes that could change in 2023, given that he knows what he needs to work on.

Giving his predictions to Sky Sports, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher said, “The set size Red Bull will be with Max Verstappen – there’s no doubt about that. This is the team to beat. At Ferrari, there’s always a little surprise box. That can sometimes be super strong. However, it has to be said that both drivers made a lot of mistakes. The team made mistakes too.” [Translated using Google]

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Timo Glock too warned Red Bull of the looming danger. Not from Ferrari, though.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s championships under threat from Mercedes?

While the brilliance of Verstappen was a sight to behold in 2022, it did take away much of the excitement quotient. That was because no other team came close, despite the Dutchman starting from as far back as P14. Timo Glock hopes we get to see some worthy battles in the upcoming season.

He told, “I hope that this season will remain more exciting. It started very well last year with a strong fight between Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. It’s been over the course of the year then drifted apart a bit. Ultimately, Max Verstappen was clearly superior. But I believe and hope that we will see an exciting fight again this year. Mercedes will also come closer again. We can look forward to an exciting season.”

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All the teams are done unveiling their 2023 challengers, and the hype is building by the day as we inch closer to the first race weekend in Bahrain next month. Let us know your predictions for the season in the comments.