Vasseur: Verstappen is not 'damaging' F1 in dominant streak

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has denied claims Max Verstappen is "damaging" Formula 1 despite his red-hot streak of form.

Two-time World Champion Verstappen has won 10 of 12 races in the 2023 season, including the last eight on the trot stretching from Miami to Spa.

Of the last 23 races, stretching back to the 2022 French Grand Prix, Verstappen has won 19 of them, and taken 221 points from the last 224 available from when his winning run began in Miami.

Verstappen by 22.3s in Belgium, a week after claiming a 33s victory in Hungary - but Ferrari chief Vasseur believes the onus is on rival squads to simply do better and catch Red Bull, as Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin and McLaren all squabble among themselves to be second-best.

Vasseur on Verstappen

"We have to collectively do a better job," Vasseur told media including RacingNews365 after Ferrari finished third with pole-sitter Charles Leclerc at Spa.

"Everybody is in the same situation: we are all a bit inconsistent, with one or two-tenths between P2 and P11.

"It is not that Max is damaging [F1], Max is doing a fantastic job and it is just that we have to do better. We can't complain about Max or Red Bull.

"It is quite impossible to split between driver and team [who brings more performance].

"The driver is also developing and setting the car up and that is part of the performance.

"For sure, when you see the result and there is a big difference between the two teammates, that is not my issue, but the issue of Red Bull.