Max Verstappen’s Dominance Touted to End With a Bizarre Rule Change 9 Weeks After Lewis Hamilton’s Hypocritical Demand Got Brutally Rejected

If you were to place a bet on Red Bull winning at least 50% of the races this year, the odds would be in your favor, considering it’s already won 10 of the 22 races this season. The Milton-Keynes team has won all the races so far; that’s how good it’s been. That’s how good Max Verstappen has been. If you were to place a bet on when Verstappen’s dominance will end, that would be a tricky one to judge because with the way the season is progressing—with Red Bull not looking to slow down anytime soon—almost no one can predict when this dominance will come to an end. But it is touted to. Like Formula 1 mogul Eddie Jordan said on his Formula For Success podcast, “Max is in an absolute class of his own at the moment, but it doesn’t last forever. It never does.”

No one enjoys periods of dominance when they’re not the ones in front, especially not F1 drivers. And Lewis Hamilton made a suggestion—hypocritically, considering he and Mercedes dominated the sport for eight years—to stop Red Bull’s reign. When he heard that Red Bull had already started working on its 2024 challenger, he suggested that the FIA should bring in a rule that stops teams from working on next season’s car before a particular date. Verstappen didn’t take to this very well and simply said, “Life is unfair.” 9 weeks ago, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali rejected the suggestion: “This year, we need to say the truth: Red Bull did a better job than the others; it’s a fact. We cannot intervene in the performance of the teams.”

As much as drivers don’t enjoy periods of dominance, neither do spectators. On his podcast, Eddie Jordan was asked if he could introduce one new rule that would help shake up the order and restrict Verstappen what it would be. He joked, “Send Max on an extended holiday for about six weeks or six races, and he’d still come back and win by four races.” But then he proposed an interesting idea—handicapping. He explained, “I think that if Max was to win so many races that he maybe should carry three kilos extra for every race he wins just to sort of see if we can even it out.”

F1 is largely dependent on weight. One extra kilogram here or there can lead to significant time deficits. Imposing such a handicap on Verstappen would undoubtedly slow him down and help teams catch up and challenge him because, at the end of the day, “When you turn on the television, you want to have a real chance that somebody else might win.” Although no one has come close to challenging Max once he’s off on his merry way at the front of the field, the British GP brought a few surprises that posed a threat to Verstappen.

Read More: “Never Ceases to Amaze Us”: Max Verstappen Hailed as Pioneer of Red Bull’s Success as Reigning Champs Reveal Elaborate Plans

Max Verstappen is aware of McLaren’s threat to Red Bull

Since the start of the season, Red Bull has been the benchmark for every team. While every team has been making progress little by little, McLaren went from competing almost at the back of the grid to fighting Verstappen at the British GP, all in a matter of weeks. The Woking team—courtesy of its new upgrades—got closer to Red Bull than any other team this season, with Lando Norris even overtaking Verstappen at the start for the lead. After Max fell to second place, Oscar Piastri challenged him for P2 but eventually fell back. But even though Verstappen retook the lead a few laps later, it wasn’t a shock nevertheless.

After the race, he expressed how surprising McLaren’s pace had been throughout the weekend. As a contingency plan to keep McLaren at arm’s length (or further back), the Dutchman revealed that Red Bull would bring upgrades to the Hungarian GP, which are expected to make the RB19 two-tenths quicker.

Are you tired of Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance yet?

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