Max Verstappen-Red Bull combination on track means 'you are fighting for P2', claims Dutch racer

The Max Verstappen-Red Bull combination in F1 is unbeatable at the moment. That's the view of former racer Tom Coronel. Speaking to the Dutch edition of Motorsport, Coronel felt that the way the two entities have meshed together and performed, it's hard for anybody to catch up and beat them.

Coronel's views stem from the fact that Red Bull and Verstappen had a dominant 2022 F1 season. The Dutchman won a record 15 races that season, while the team was able to secure 17 wins.

Meanwhile, speaking about the cost cap penalty, Coronel does not think it would have much of an impact on Red Bull. He feels that, at the end of the day, the basics of the team are already in place and that should prevent things from going wrong. Coronel explained:

“If you see Verstappen and Red Bull on the entry list, you are normally fighting for P2. Their system and their combination is just working at the moment and that means it won’t stop at once now. It can’t. I think Red Bull and Verstappen will be very hard to beat in the next two years, in the combination that’s there now. Once you have chosen a certain direction that works well, you don’t immediately turn at right angles. Normally, this can’t be over overnight.”

Max Verstappen also hopes Mercedes comes back to the front

Speaking about the rather restrictive nature of the current F1 regulations, Tom Coronel did expect teams to close down the gap to Red Bull and Max Verstappen. He also admitted that he was hoping for Mercedes to be in the mix, which would certainly be better for the sport, as Verstappen had stated earlier. Coronel said:

“That will hopefully bring the rest a bit closer, but they won’t go over it straight away, you understand that too. Personally, I do hope that Mercedes will indeed get there, as Max also says. That would be nice for the sport, of course. Two or three fighting each other, then we get just a bit more fight and rivalry at the front. We need those things a bit too of course as fans of the sport.”

The 2023 F1 season could be very interesting with the possibility of a four-way title fight between Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc. Fans can expect to be treated to an intense season, with the level of racing on just another level.