‘They’re just working better,’ Former F1 Champion shuts down Red Bull-Mercedes ‘dominance’ comparisons
Jacques Villeneuve is not fully convinced with Red Bull's domination in the 2023 Formula 1 season.
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Mercedes and Red Bull
Red Bull has completely battered its competition so far in the 2023 F1 season, but former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve believes there is no point in comparing the dominance of Red Bull with that of Mercedes. He ardently feels that the Milton-Keynes-based team has some way to go to reach the level of dominance that Toto Wolff and Co. had during their golden era.
The Red Bull F1 team has just started showing its full mettle in F1 recently, and Villeneuve, while shedding light on the team, said, “It’s not as big as the Mercedes domination that used to be, so why are we complaining about it? It’s not massive. They didn’t get pole [at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix]. They’re just working better.”
“When you had the Mercedes domination, they could make mistakes and still win easily. Red Bull cannot afford to make a mistake. They win because they’re better, the car’s a little bit better. The driver works better with the engineers, there’s no chaos, there’s no politics. They all work in the same direction, so they end up winning.”
Jacques Villeneuve has made it crystal clear that he is not as hyped up as most of the other people are regarding Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s dominance during the ongoing campaign. He feels that Red Bull is just able to work well together, and that’s why it has been able to churn up exceptional results. Whereas when Mercedes was the top dog in the sport, they were winning even when they could not put their best foot forward.
Red Bull has had a few troubles so far in 2023
While the Red Bull F1 team has proved too much for its rivals in race-trim, they have not been able to prove themselves as the absolute world beaters when it comes to single-lap pace. An example of this was seen during the Azerbaijan qualifying session, where Ferrari starlet Charles Leclerc got the better of both the Red Bull drivers in his SF-23.
Keeping this into, Villeneuve further added, “But if they make a mistake, they don’t win. So it’s not clear domination, they’re just ever [so] slightly better. That gives them maybe a little bit of margin, but only if they work properly.” The former World Champion is not fully convinced with Red Bull’s strong run in 2023.
However, despite all the doubters, Red Bull has won all four races so far in the season. Considering everything Villeneuve has said, how do you see the Milton-Keynes-based team performing at the upcoming Miami Grand Prix weekend? Would Max and Sergio be able to land a fifth consecutive win for the team?
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)