"Everyone is getting smarter" - Max Verstappen 'not surprised' by intense competition levels after 2023 F1 Bahrain GP qualifying

Max Verstappen feels it's not much of a surprise that the field is starting to converge this season and the gaps are smaller. He stated that new regulations were put in place, keeping this in mind as they were a lot more prescriptive in nature.

In 2022, since it was the first season of these regulations we did not see much change in the field spread. It was more or less the same as what we would in the previous regulations as well.

This changed in the first race of 2023 as the gaps were significantly reduced. The top seven cars are separated by a gap of around half a second and even the midfield has started to close the gap.

When questioned if this was something that surprised him, Max Verstappen felt that this was expected. He explained that this is the second season of the regulations and such a thing was expected. He said:

"Not really a surprise. If you look at most of the cars, they all copied each other so everyone is getting smarter over the years anyway, with the same regulations. And if you see that one car, particularly, is doing quite well over a year, you'll try to copy some things and that's why of course, naturally everyone is getting closer and in general, of course, understanding the car bit better."

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We welcome the competition: Max Verstappen's teammate

Max Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez admitted that the gaps were noticeably shorter now. The top four teams Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Mercedes are much closer to each other than what has been the norm in the last few seasons.

Considering the prospect of a possible challenge from these teams, Sergio Perez welcomed the competition and said:

"Yeah, certainly the competition is a lot closer now. You can see it straight from Q1. You cannot do a mistake, even if you are in a top car. So yeah, that's nice in a way. And it will only get closer as the season progresses. So we welcome the competition."

Max Verstappen is aiming to win what would be his third world title in F1. The driver won his first title in somewhat controversial circumstances in 2021 against Lewis Hamilton. The second title was a dominant display against Charles Leclerc last season.

It's still unclear who will emerge as the primary competitor this season for Verstappen as there is a gaggle of cars still fighting it out for the top position.