“Ferrari’s dominance was when F1 was much less competitive” - Former F1 boss highlights key differences between Red Bull and Prancing Horse’s reign

Former Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul has said that Ferrari's dominance in the sport was in a less competitive era than the current era of Red Bull's superiority.

The way Red Bull have been dominating in F1 is close to how Ferrari was back in the day with Michael Schumacher as their main driver. Between 2000 and 2004, they won all the Drivers' and Constructors' championships. Schumacher set some records that have not been broken to date.

Max Verstappen has been on a similar path with Red Bull in the past two years. The 2023 season ended with the team winning all but one of the races in the season, and Verstappen broke numerous records.

Cyril Abiteboul feels that there is a clear difference between the domination of the two teams. Talking about the competition, he stated that Ferrari did not have to worry about other teams but Red Bull shines in an era where all the teams are competitive.

Abiteboul said (via PlanetF1):

"Ferrari’s dominance was at a time when F1 was much less competitive than it is now. Ferrari dominated with budgets and a structure that had nothing to do with the other teams."

He added:

"Red Bull is a prestigious team, very well organised and financed, but it is not the only one. They dominate in an environment where the others are not weak."

According to Abiteboul, Red Bull have assembled a car that has an excellent ability to generate downforce and is aerodynamically very strong. RB19, the car in question, was exceptionally fast on all circuits throughout the 2023 season.

Max Verstappen won the world championship by a margin of over 290 points over Sergio Perez, his teammate, who was the runner-up.

Ferrari, meanwhile, got extremely close to becoming the runner-up in the Constructors' standings but finished just three points behind Mercedes.

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Ferrari boss aims to carry momentum from this season to the 2024 season

The start of the 2023 season was statistically the worst start to a season the Scuderia had experienced in their history in the sport. Reliability issues and a lack of pace hampered their results.

There were major concerns that the team might not end up even in the top five by the end of the season. But the development was in the right direction for them in the second half of the season.

By the final couple of races, the cars was back battling in the top pack along with Mercedes and McLaren. Singapore was the only race that was not won by a Red Bull car, and it was Ferrari's Carlos Sainz who emerged victorious.

Speaking to Sky Sports, team principal Frederic Vasseur stated that the team wants to carry this momentum into the upcoming season to challenge teams at the top.

"If you have a look at the last three or four events, we are always on the first row, we are fighting with Red Bull, and we have to keep this momentum for next year."

The team has also reportedly signed a new contract extension with Charles Leclerc till the 2029 season.