Max Verstappen claims he had serious doubts about Red Bull’s understanding of the 2022 regulations ahead of the season. The Dutchman was unsure whether or not his team had successfully grasped the new aerodynamic philosophy the sport mandated, putting his title defense in jeopardy.
2022 was Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s year. The 25-year-old broke Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s record for the most number of race wins in a single season with 15. He destroyed the rest of the field after the midway point of the season.
His Red Bull RB18 did suffer poor reliability at the start of the season. However, the Austrian team managed to iron out any mechanical issues and gave the Dutchman arguably the best car on the grid.
A short view back to the beginning of the year though, the now-two-time world champion had severe doubts about his team’s understanding of the new regulations.
In an exclusive for RacingNews365.com, Max Verstappen said about the beginning of the year:
“Honestly, that was a very big question mark. Because of the new regulations, we had no clue on where we were going to be. Everything looked good in the wind tunnel and with the calculations, but you don’t know what other people have found.”
He added:
“Did they find a trick [that we missed]? When the cars came onto the grid in Bahrain [for a pre-season photoshoot], to take the pictures, there were so many different ideas and you are like: ‘Did we do the right thing?'”
Max Verstappen’s dominance didn’t make the 2022 F1 season boring, claims McLaren boss
McLaren boss Zak Brown claimed the 2022 F1 season was not ‘boring’ despite Max Verstappen’s utter dominance. The American felt all races were exciting despite Red Bull’s clear advantage over the rest of the field in the second half of 2022.
Brown told the media:
“It certainly seems like the racing has been better. I think everyone was concerned that cars were going to look the same. They certainly don’t. There’s a lot of different concepts. I think the new regulations always need refining, but I think we got it pretty right. And the racing has been very exciting this year.”
He added:
“Given the dominance of Max, it doesn’t feel like it’s been a boring season, even if the results on paper, you would think it would be boring. But I think all the races have been very exciting.”
Max Verstappen secured his second title in the sport with four races to go. He assertively put an end to Ferrari’s return to form at the beginning of the year. Despite the Red Bull driver’s record-breaking performance in 2022, Zak Brown claims the season was not boring. He felt the 2022 regulations allowed for closer racing in the midfield, leading to exciting battles around the grid.
The Dutchman now has his eyes on his 2023 title defense, where he will be trying to stop the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes from taking away his precious accolade. Max Verstappen’s title defense for next year is, however, in jeopardy due to the reprimands his team received for allegedly breaking the 2021 cost cap. Only time will tell whether the Dutchman will be able to hold his ground against the rest of the field.
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