Max Verstappen’s “Polite” Predictions Dismissed With a Warning to the Rest of the Grid

Max Verstappen, the defending champion of Formula 1, is gearing up for another shot at the world title. However, Verstappen’s success is not just due to his own driving skills but also to the strength of his team, Red Bull. In the past year, Red Bull has been able to overcome the reliability issues that plagued them and has become one of the most consistent teams on the grid. The team also looks great going into the next season, with Ferrari and Mercedes trailing behind.

Verstappen knows that repeating his success in 2022 will not be easy. He expects the competition to be closer this year and for other teams to have made improvements over the off-season. In particular, he expects Mercedes to come back strong, as they have a history of being a formidable team.

Reacting to this and choosing his favorite for next season, in a conversation with Motorsport.com, Mark Webber, former driver of the Milton-Keynes outfit, said, “I think that is especially polite of Max. I think Red Bull will be the most dangerous team again at the beginning of the season.”

“Everyone else has to improve themselves in every way. Mercedes’ reliability was good, but that of Ferrari less. Red Bull both had good reliability and was strong on all circuits. For Max it was at times Formula 1 Plus in the past year.”

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Given how high Red Bull finished the season, Webber’s prediction is safe. In 2023, the only place to improve for the team is to bag the second position in the drivers’ championship as well. Rest they had covered up well in 2022.

Webber’s belief in Max Verstappen and Red Bull

Red Bull has a rather peculiar challenge on its hands this year. The team will be paying the fine for going over budget in the form of reduced wind tunnel time for testing its new car. The team will have to make the most of the already-limited time.

Addressing the challenge, Webber said, “Nobody knows that at the moment. But I am pretty sure they have enough capable and creative people there to keep things going.”
The Aussie further expressed his curiosity about how the funds would be distributed to keep the team ahead of the curve while believing that it “will be fascinating to see how the first quarter of this season will go.”

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Going into the next season, we’ll get the true picture only in the first third practice of the year. Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see how Mercedes and Ferrari catch up to Red Bull’s progress.