Toto Wolff believes that reacting to Red Bull's Formula 1 domination by changing rules or artificially balancing car performance would be ruinous for the sport. With the Monaco Grand Prix expected to be Red Bull's toughest test so far this season, Max Verstappen survived a chaotic mid-race rain shower to eventually dominate the event. The reigning World Champion fended off the early threat from Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso to claim his fourth win of the season to extend his championship lead to 39 points, with teammate Sergio Perez unable to score after his qualifying crash. The Red Bull team have taken victories at all six Grands Prix so far in 2023, and are currently on course for an unprecedented one hundred percent win record for a Formula 1 season. Alonso and Aston Martin have been Red Bull's most consistent challengers so far this season, with last year's championship contenders Ferrari unable to convert snippets of one-lap pace in any sustained race performances. Red Bull's rivals from the 2021 season, Mercedes, are also off the pace, but are hoping to bridge the gap with the major updates that were brought to their W14 car for the Monaco GP weekend. When asked about Red Bull's domination, Mercedes Team Principal Wolff conceded that the Milton Keynes team deserved credit for their success. "Formula 1 is a meritocracy," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.com . "The car is fast in all conditions, the driver is on the top of his game. Even in the race, going off at times, but not retiring, is a skill, and you can see that he pushed. "All credit to them, we just need to do a better job. We just need to catch up, find intelligent solutions, hope that our development slope is steeper than theirs and eventually fight for this again."
With the Constructors' Championship already looking likely to go to Red Bull, attentions have focused on the Drivers' Championship battle, which has so far been an exclusive contest between the two Red Bull drivers. Wolff conceded that whilst a multi-team, multi-driver battle for the championships is preferred, Formula 1 must accept when teams achieve big performance advantages. "It's a sport, whether it's good for the show or not," added Wolff. "Obviously, a strong fight between ten drivers, or at least two, is much better for all of us, but it's not happening, and that's why you have to just accept that and work to get back there." When asked if Formula 1 should look into ways of equalling the performance between teams, Wolff responded: “If we start putting in a balance of performance we will ruin this sport. “The best driver in the best car, spending the same amount of money wins the championship, and if you break the rules in either you should be heavily penalised, but only for that, and not for doing a good job.”
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