Max Verstappen has warned Red Bull will not enjoy another dominant season next year as he predicts others to bridge the gap over the winter. The Dutchman also stressed he was “prepared” for another down-to-the-wire title battle with Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes’ performance improves race by race.
Verstappen made the comments when asked if he expected Ferrari and Mercedes to be closer to his pace in the second year of the F1’s new regulations. The Red Bull star responded: “I do think it will be closer. People are understanding the cars a lot more. And, yeah, over time all the teams will just edge closer.
“But from our side, yeah, it’s been a really positive weekend. So that’s, of course, really encourage also for next year. But we also know now, over the winter, we really have to keep pushing and keep trying to find performance and not only performance, understanding.”
Mercedes were uncompetitive for most of the season but took a step in the right direction with their final upgrade package in October.
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However, the reigning champion revealed he would be ready if the German manufacturer was back in the title hunt for 2023. Verstappen added: “If you’re not prepared, then it’s better to stop already, right? I mean
“I think we’re all racers and we love racing. Of course, it’s just that it’s nice to have a season like I had last year but it’s also nice to have a season like I have this year. It just would be very tough if you have that every single year you know, the year I had last year but that also doesn’t really happen in Formula One so it should be okay.”
