Brundle baffled over claims Verstappen dominance is 'boring'

Martin Brundle disagrees with the idea that Max Verstappen's dominance so far in the 2023 F1 season is "boring".

The Dutchman leads the Drivers' standings after claiming his third victory of the campaign in Miami, stretching his lead over teammate Sergio Perez to 14 points.

Red Bull also have a sizeable 122-point advantage over nearest challengers Aston Martin in the Constructors' Championship, leading to George Russell recently suggesting that Mercedes could not catch the Milton Keynes-based squad even if they removed the rear wing from their car.

Following Verstappen's victory over Perez in Miami – one week on from Perez getting the better of him in Azerbaijan – Brundle believes that this is very much the reigning World Champion's era.

Brundle on Verstappen era

"I think, over a season, we all know that Max will turn up all day every day," Brundle said in the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

"On Saturday [in Miami], we had Sergio saying, 'I'm not driving well' in his own press release, and it's indicative of what's going to happen.

"If you look at the points last year, [where Max was initially on less] because of [his] unreliability in the early part of the season, and where it ended up by the end of the season.

"Max will have an answer all day every day, and will recover a P9 on the grid better than Sergio, unless unreliability comes into play.

"What we've got going on here – and we've seen it in the past with dominance, maybe in 1988 with [Ayrton] Senna and [Alain] Prost – if you don't win, you must finish second, because when you've got a dominant car, that's what's available to you, first and second.

"You can't afford to miss the second places because you'll struggle to play catch-up at that point, and that's what we're looking at here.

"Sergio's doing a great job – he's raised his game, he seems to work with his car better, but we are in a dominant Max Verstappen phase."

Dominance not 'boring', says Brundle

Brundle believes that F1 fans should "embrace" the current dominance of Verstappen and Red Bull rather than criticise it.

"We're witnessing something special, something incredible, so I don't know why we need to run and hide from it or talk about it being boring," Brundle added.

"Verstappen is extraordinary, in control of a very challenging Formula 1 car. It's not about the lowest common denominator in Formula 1, it's about excellence.

"Everybody's got to raise their game, and they will. They will find a way.

"We know that these circles of dominance fall away and it's for others to get their acts together, so I think we should embrace it and enjoy it."