SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

No special rules to slow Verstappen down

Stefano Domenicali has played down the likelihood that Formula 1 will intervene in order to move the rest of the grid closer to Red Bull's total dominance.

On the cusp of a record-breaking tenth consecutive win, Max Verstappen at Monza hit back at Lewis Hamilton's suggestion that the Dutchman is having an easier time than he ever enjoyed during Mercedes' similarly dominant era.

Hamilton had said at Monza that his teammates were all stronger than anyone Verstappen, 25, has had to share a garage with so far at Red Bull.

Verstappen told Dutch reporters in response: "Maybe Lewis is a little jealous of my current success.

"He might think he gains something with statements like that, but it doesn't matter to do. I think it's just hard for Mercedes to deal with it after all those years of winning so much.

"But at some point you need to recognise someone else's success. That's what we did when they dominated.

He can scream all he wants that there's nothing special about our success, but I think it's better for them to take care of themselves.

The two-time champion also told Corriere della Sera newspaper: The others talk, I prefer to win.

Verstappen's dominance is, however, triggering rumours that Liberty Media might try to react to the predictable results with 'balance of performance' rules - special rules to help less successful teams catch up.

F1 CEO Domenicali played down that likelihood.

I'm always open to discussions, he told La Repubblica newspaper, "but balance of performance is not a topic on the table.

I prefer to see the engineers react to the strength of their rivals.

And one of Domenicali's predecessors, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, said the sport can at least be grateful that Hamilton has signed a new two-year deal.

You'd have to ask yourself where we'd be without Hamilton. It would be a rather boring show, he told Blick newspaper.

You can think what you want about Lewis, but all over the world he brings glamour to a sport that is unfortunately increasingly dominated by technology.
(GMM)