Max Verstappen enters the Formula 1 summer break having enjoyed a run of dominance at Red Bull in 2023, winning ten out of the first 12 races. Teammate Sergio Perez has only managed to win two of those in the same car, after a spate of poor qualifying results largely led to him starting towards the rear of the pack. Verstappen held a streak of 249 laps led after he overtook Perez for the win in Miami, which was held until the Austrian Grand Prix when Charles Leclerc led from lap 25. It looks effortless from the outset, but it has not been that smooth according to the Dutchman when speaking to F1.com : “It’s better than we expected it to be, so yeah, it’s really enjoyable. “I’m just enjoying the moment, having a good time. But it doesn’t come easy." At times it looks like Verstappen and Red Bull come into the weekend knowing they can win, but does that make it boring for the Dutchman? “That actually doesn’t’ make it boring. That’s why I’m here. I want to be here. I want to win," he explains. "To be up front. It’s what makes it a lot more enjoyable to come to a race weekend. Knowing that you can’t win, you have no chance – that’s boring for me. This is the opposite.”
Verstappen pin points why Red Bull are doing so well
Red Bull has delivered on track but also in the pit lane by producing the quickest stops so far this season, the fastest being Perez at the Hungarian Grand Prix which reached sub-two seconds. Verstappen credits this relentless push for perfection in all areas for the reason why they have been such a dominant force in 2023. “I just put a lot of pressure on myself to try and deliver what I can. The team does that as well, they always want to be as good as they can be," said the Dutchman. “Some races look easier than others, sometimes it just clicks a bit easier. I think that is the strength of the team, we always want to do the best we can, we always want to improve. That’s why we are doing so well at the moment.”
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