After Red Bull blitzed the 2022 world championship, winning 17 of the 22 rounds, the other nine teams could be forgiven for keeping their fingers crossed over the winter that the champions would be caught by the pack for the start of the new season.
But from the first day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, there was an ominous sense that Red Bull had produced another formidable car for 2023. That was confirmed during the opening round of the season the following weekend, when the team locked out the front row in qualifying with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, then dominated the race, winning by over half a minute over Red Bull’s closest competitor – the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.Such was the commanding nature of Red Bull’s victory, the dynamic of the entire season appears to have been transformed. As much as the likes of Ferrari’s Frederic Vasseur can stress that the championship is not over after one race, the reality is that Ferrari, Mercedes or even Aston Martin will need to make up ground on the champions quickly if anyone will have a realistic chance of challenging them for the titles this season.
Following Red Bull’s demolition of their rivals on Sunday, George Russell was among those to voice the view that the reigning world champions should win every race this year. No team has ever whitewashed a season before – the closest being McLaren, who won 15/16 races in 1988 (93.75%) – but do Red Bull really have a chance of achieving this unprecedented feat?
For
As RaceFans highlighted in yesterday’s stats and facts from the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, no team has won the opening race by as great a margin as Red Bull since McLaren lapped the entire grid in the first race of 1998. The question is, will anyone be able to make up that gap over the year to come?
Red Bull clearly enjoy a very strong car, a championship-worthy power unit, a double-world champion team mate leading the team and Perez looking as if he may be closer to his team mate on the basis on the first weekend. And the RB19 hasn’t looked close to suffering any reliability issues so far.
But whether Red Bull can be stopped this year is as much down to their rivals as it is the team themselves. And from what has been shown so far, it’s hard to see anyone making up that margin in a hurry.
Against
Winning the opening race is one thing, winning both titles is another. But it’s a whole other level of difficulty to string together a perfect run of 23 consecutive victories – even if Red Bull appear to have such a big advantage after round one.
It’s hard to crown anyone on the basis on one weekend, especially when that round was at Bahrain – a rear-limited, highly abrasive circuit where even less aerodynamically efficient cars like the Williams can put in strong performances. Verstappen and Perez said they need to see how they fare in Jeddah and Melbourne to know how strong their package is.
Many elements outside of Red Bull’s control that could ruin their chance of a perfect season. From reliability, being caught up in accidents or even Verstappen and Perez clashing while battling each other, the team are near-certain to face a setback eventually.
I say
Even on the basis of Bahrain, it is still far, far braver to bet on Red Bull winning every race this season than not. There is just too much scope for things to change over the course of the season for the RB19’s pace advantage to hold over nine months and 22 further races.
This is especially as all of the team’s rivals have the benefit of more aerodynamic testing time than the champions do, coupled with a 10% reduction due to breaching the 2021 budget cap. Team principal Christian Horner says he “fully expects our rivals to come back hard in the future races.”
But it is also hard not to look at how dominant the team were over the final two-thirds of the season in 2022 and not see striking parallels with the first race of this season. At this stage, there’s little reason to doubt their ability to equal or even go one or two wins better than they haul of 17 wins from last year.
It will still take something remarkable for that perfect season to be realised, but there’s no reason for now why Red Bull cannot break their own record for most wins by a team in a single season.
You say
Will Red Bull win every race this year? Will they outstrip their 17 wins of last season?
Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
How many grands prix will Red Bull win this season?
- Red Bull will win all 23 grands prix this season (5%)
- Red Bull will win 18-22 grands prix (46%)
- Red Bull will win 13-17 grands prix (44%)
- Red Bull will win 8-12 grands prix (5%)
- Red Bull will win 2-7 grands prix (0%)
- Red Bull will only win one grand prix this season (0%)
Total Voters: 239
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Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
Jere (@jerejj)
12th March 2023, 9:21
I voted for 13-17. Just my gut feeling that this range is the most realistic.
Alex De (@alexde)
12th March 2023, 17:01
+1
Nick T.
12th March 2023, 20:46
It’s clear Haas will dominate the rest of the season. Do your homework, buddy.
jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
13th March 2023, 22:41
Same, was torn between that and 18-22, as i’m thinking they’ll probably win somewhere between 15-20.
Danixico
14th March 2023, 23:30
So, it is a waste of time following this Championship. This session Will looks like a parade…what a Shame. Missed opportunity by FOM and FIA to bring emotion to this sport…..
Red Andy (@red-andy)
12th March 2023, 9:41
No, of course not. Over a 23-race season there are bound to be off days, or tracks that don’t suit the RB19 as well. Even at the height of their dominance, Mercedes had weekends where they were outpaced by Red Bull or Ferrari (Mexico City was a particular outlier, because the high altitude nullified much of Mercedes’ baked-in engine advantage). The same will be true of Red Bull on occasion this season.
I voted for 13-17 wins, and I expect it to be at the upper end of that range. If Red Bull did manage to complete a clean sweep, it would possibly be the most remarkable achievement in F1 history. But we are a long way from that at the moment.
BasCB (@bascb)
12th March 2023, 15:58
Yeah, the season is long, and who knows what can happen (combination of SC and rain, anyone?). I estimated the amount a tad higher at 18-22 but I think it will probably be somewhere between 16-20. Which would still be a huge amount.
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th March 2023, 4:52
Indeed, why are we even having this debate? Of course they won’t win every race, something will come up to scupper them at least once. It’s madness to give so much time to a throw away comment from a driver who races for a team that absolutely brutalised the opposition from 2014 – 2020? I don’t recall having this poll at any time in 2014- 2016 when Mercedes won all but 8 races across these three seasons…and all of those wins (probably Malaysia 2015 aside) were not won by the opposition on merit.
We are one race in, if people believe it is all over they shouldn’t watch the rest of the season…no one is forcing you to.
MattDS (@mattds)
13th March 2023, 8:31
@geemac not that it changes your overall point, but I definitely think Singapore 2015 was on merit as well. Mercedes had a total off-weekend, sure, but it’s not like they were victim of unreliability, crashes or anything else. They were just not on it, and Ferrari/Seb were.
GeeMac (@geemac)
13th March 2023, 11:14
@mattds I forgot about Singapore, thanks for that. I agree, Seb and Ferrari were genuinely quick that weekend. That still means only 2 out of those 8 non-Mercedes wins were on merit! :)
Mayrton
13th March 2023, 9:16
Yes, of course not. Another vote buying article. We have had one race. The level of this site is staggering from time to time
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 18:28
It’s not an unreasonable poll given the situation, I don’t consider myself one who draws early conclusions, yet I voted for the 2nd highest option.
Mayrton
15th March 2023, 12:58
I would argue it is. We are one race in, we raced on a particular track, especially when it comes to the surface. We have never done this exercise before after one race while the gap between teams have been way bigger in the past. Click bait.
RatSack
12th March 2023, 9:53
I suspect Red Bull may have some trouble beating Ferrari in Monaco, given Ferrari in theory should be able to qualify well there as their main deficit to Red Bull is straight line speed and Race pace doesn’t particularly matter there.
That said Ferrari do have a knack for finding ways to lose all on their own but Im thinking Vasseur’s leadership should iron out any issues by then.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
12th March 2023, 13:00
Ferrari has more straight line speed but gave up its advantage in the slow corners. RBR on the other hand kept its straight line speed and improved massively in the slow corners. Monaco is probably their strongest track. I expect Ferrari to be competitive in Spa and Monza.
elchinero (@elchinero)
12th March 2023, 13:31
Good thinking, RatSack … track-dependent issues.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
12th March 2023, 10:05
I think it’s very unlikely that RBR will win every race. Too many variables in place to allow this as explained in the article.
I voted for 13-17 but I too expect it to be towards the top end of this range. I could even see them getting 18.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
12th March 2023, 10:09
I think Red Bull will be in position to win every Grand Prix this year, but there are so many variables that could cost either or both their drivers time that I’d put the chances of them actually doing it at under 50%.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
12th March 2023, 10:11
I’d put 20 or more wins this season at well over 90% probability as of today.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 18:32
Yes, from what we’ve seen so far I think many (saying 13-17) are underestimating RB.
Suffering Williams Fan
12th March 2023, 10:41
We’ve seen these cars test and race at one track. Red Bull obviously had a very strong start to the season on the back of a very strong 2022, but I’d be inclined to wait another race or two before writing off the whole season.
Suffering Williams Fan
12th March 2023, 10:43
As an addendum, that 1998 McLaren, that has proved a popular comparison for the opening race, won slightly more than half of the races that year.
Patrick
12th March 2023, 10:52
@Suffering Williams Fan. Winning only half of the races would only give Red Bull a 25% hit rate. I am sure that they can do better than that. Time will tell.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 18:37
I don’t understand, winning only half the races would give RB a 25% hit rate? Half the races are 50% hit rate.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
12th March 2023, 18:08
I don’t think the 1998 season is comparable at all with the current situation. Back than we had the Bridgestone – Goodyear tyre “war”.
Bridgestone started off with a considerable advantage but got caught and arguably even overtaken by the later part of the season.
Also Michael Schumacher, like him or not, was head and shoulders above anybody else. It was only him who could keep the Mclarens in sight and his early retirement made their advantage look much bigger. No discredit to Irvine or Williams but they got outclassed regularly throughout the season by the Mclarens…
Red Andy (@red-andy)
12th March 2023, 18:34
@roadrunner Also McLaren’s extra brake pedal was banned after Australia, which helped trim their advantage to something vaguely surmountable.
Patrick
12th March 2023, 10:49
So you have 2 cars entering 23 races (excluding sprints) which give them 46 chances of winning 23 races. That’s only a 50% hit rate of them pulling it off. What are the chances that both cars will have a technical issue in the same race? Not impossible but quite unlikely. And what are the chances that both drivers will mess up in the same race? Also not impossible but more unlikely then the first option. So given the performance advantage that they displayed at the first race, my guess is that they will be near to the 23 number if not on it.
Suffering Williams Fan
12th March 2023, 13:26
People are assuming the magnitude of the advantage at race one will be maintained throughout the season. In 1998 and also 1997 when Williams also had a crushing pace gap to the field in race one – though failed to capitalise on it), in neither year did that pace advantage persist for the entire season (both cars remained the best for the season, but they scale of the advantage did not persist. Maybe it will this time, but just a reminder that race one can be misleading)
Patrick
12th March 2023, 18:00
@Suffering Williams Fan I don’t know which “People” you are referring to and I assure you that I am not one of them. Do they know that you are speaking on their behalf? Your data from 1997 and 1998 cannot be used to make a prediction for 2023 and is therefore irrelevant. I am assuming nothing as I have solid data from the first race and using that data it is a foregone conclusion that Red Bull will win every race this season. When I have the data from race 1 and 2 perhaps my conclusion will change or be reinforced. When I have the data from race 1,2 and 3 etc. Looking at the performance data from Mercedes would be a lot more likely to predict the future as you seem want to do than Williams 1997 and 1998.
Suffering Williams Fan
12th March 2023, 18:59
By “people” I mean the more than half of voters who spoke for themselves by indicating that they think Red Bull will win at least 18 races this season on the basis of a single race result (you indicate you agree with them). That necessitates a lot of assumptions about race representativeness and future development over the course of a 23 race season. I make no prediction about how many races Red Bull will win this season because I think one race is nowhere near enough to do such a thing. That was my point.
drmouse (@drmouse)
13th March 2023, 8:24
Of course we need to see more races.
However, we can make predictions based on what we’ve seen so far, history, and our own experience. That’s part of the fun. It’s educated guesswork for now and could be way out, but still a worthwhile activity.
Philip (@philipgb)
12th March 2023, 10:50
I fully expect the Red Bull the be the fastest car by a good margin over the majority of the season, but even with a performance advantage winning a race weekend is something you can just go through the motions and pull off
I think it’s still likely 2-4 races will have another team with the fastest car, there is a good likelihood of a race or two with a safety car upset that gives us a wildcard winner, Red Bull as imperious as they are at strategy could drop the ball on another race or two, and also a retirement or tyre failure at a race or two
So I’ll guess at them winning 17 races, and Max winning 16 of those with the one he doesn’t win being due to retirement
Patrick
12th March 2023, 10:56
Philip (@philipgb) Given your numbers, 23 – 4 = 19 So is your guess 17 or 19?
drmouse (@drmouse)
12th March 2023, 11:41
His suggestion was:
* 2-4 races where another car is actually faster
* 1-2 with an upset causing a wild card winner
* 1-2 strategy mistakes
* 1-2 requirements/tyre failures
That’s, potentially, 5-10 races without RBR winning, or 13-18 won. His guess of 17 falls within this range.
Philip (@philipgb)
12th March 2023, 11:43
My guess is 17
drmouse (@drmouse)
12th March 2023, 11:02
I doubt they’ll win every race, but I think the probability is higher than we’ve had for a long time.
Note: I’m making the assumption here that the Bahrain result, while possibly an outlier, is at least close to representative. We won’t really know until we’ve seen the next couple races, but my gut is that it won’t be far off.
If the question was “Will Verstappen win every race?”, I’d say no. I know there’s a chance, but it’s so unlikely that a driver won’t have a DNF, or at least a serious issue, that I think it verges on impossible. However, the car is so much quicker that Perez should pick up the win if Max doesn’t.
I voted 18-22. I think other teams may close the gap and sneak a few wins, probably towards the end of the season, but not many.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 18:55
Perez can absolutely not win every race on performance discounting verstappen.
drmouse (@drmouse)
13th March 2023, 23:07
He still finished 30s in Bahrain, and looked to be cruising for much of it, too. Of course, it wouldn’t have been quite as much if Charles hadn’t retired, but he still had a decent margin. Again, assuming it isn’t a ridiculous outlier, he has a very good chance of picking up any wins where Max has a problem.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
12th March 2023, 11:56
From 2014 to 2016, Mercedes won all but 8 races, out of 59. Only one of those was down purely to pace (Singapore 2015). The rest were due to collisions between teammates (Belgium 2014, Spain 2016), reliability issues (Canada 2014, Malaysia 2016), mistakes in bad weather (Hungary 2014), higher than expected tyre wear (Malaysia 2015), and a mixed bag consisting of poor starts, a hard-to-overtake circuit, and mistakes, both self-inflicted and enforced (Hungary 2015).
I think Red Bull are very unlikely to win everything, IF AND ONLY IF Ferrari, Aston and Mercedes are on the ball to take advantage if/when there is an opportunity. It’s also possible that Red Bull has a race where both cars retire, but that’s less likely. I think we might be looking at a 1988-esque mauling here.
MichaelN
12th March 2023, 15:01
Indeed, and that was with Rosberg in the second car. Red Bull has Pérez.
It seems very unlikely that Pérez won’t be beaten a good number of times, in which case it’ll be down to Verstappen slipping up or having technical issues. While that probably won’t happen more than two or three times, it’ll does mean Red Bull likely won’t win all races.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 18:58
1988 is a good comparison, and a season with an impressive win ratio, 15 out of 16, and they could’ve won the last one too if not for senna hitting a lapped car.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
12th March 2023, 12:28
Making the assumption that in every race that neither driver has problems they finish 1-2, if Verstappen has a problem then Perez wins and if Perez has a problem then Verstappen wins, the only way that Red Bull don’t win a race is if something goes wrong for both drivers.
If there are n races, x problems for Verstappen and y problems for Perez, the probability of them winning every race is: ((n-y)!(n-x)!)/((n-x-y)!(n!)).
Last year, Verstappen had five problems that stopped him winning (Bahrain, Australia, Britain, Singapore, Brazil) and Perez had four problems (Bahrain, Canada, Austria, Italy). Last year, Leclerc beat Verstappen in Austria on pace, but this is assuming Verstappen wins the same situation this year because he has a dominant car, and indeed Perez also beats Leclerc if he doesn’t retire.
So if one driver has four problems and the other five in this 23 race season, Red Bull’s chance of winning every race is 0.346.
If that number drops to 4 for one driver and 3 for the other, the probability goes over half.
In reality, something like a safety car at a bad time or just a lack of pace can count as a ‘problem’ so it is likely that the number of problems will be much higher. You can sub any number of problems into that equation to get a probability.
In the 1988 season, there were 16 races, Prost had two problems and Senna had five. So the chance that those would all have come at different times was 0.458, or just under half. And the reality was that they only managed 15/16 due to both retiring in Monza.
Jonathan Parkin
12th March 2023, 17:44
Although Senna’s retirement was due to Prost suckering him into using too much fuel in the early stages, meaning he had to slow down letting the Ferrari’s close up. As a result he wasn’t as circumspect as he could have been when lapping Jean Louis Schlesser
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:04
Indeed, that’s exactly how it went down, so a good chance to win all races for them, too bad, could’ve been the only chance in recent f1 history (as in I believe ascari and clark did it in the early years, but there were far less races).
Electroball76
12th March 2023, 12:31
the Maldonado Principal suggests it is extremely unlikely that any team can have a clean sweep of the championship
macaque (@macaque)
12th March 2023, 20:22
Do you mean the Maldonado Principle?
Does that refer to a one-off race where a different manufacturer is faster than Red Bull? Like when Maldonado won his one and only race in Barcelona? Perhaps with Alonso or Stroll getting Aston Martin’s one and only win this season?
Or does the Maldonado Principle refer to the Grosjean Effect, where someone takes the Red Bulls out and they cannot win that race anymore? Though that could also be called the Bottas Equation.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:18
Ahah, fun the bottas equation! I believe maldonado in this case is meant about spain 2012.
Neil (@neilosjames)
12th March 2023, 12:33
No, I do think they’ll very much dominate but I can’t see a whole season going by without at least one race being lost to reliability, a collision, grid penalties, etc. Went with 18-22.
DonSmee (@david-beau)
12th March 2023, 12:40
This is more dominant than any Mercedes from the hybrid era, and certainly more reliable. Combine that with the best strategists and number 1 driver setup, and budget cap and I see RedBull winning EVERY SINGLE RACE. 100% no doubt about it.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:23
More reliable on the basis of 1 race??
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:24
I’m talking about mechanical problems ofc, I normally don’t use the reliable word for the things you said, more like organized.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
12th March 2023, 12:44
Nope, second driver’s not good enough. When Verstappen loses his engine or hydraulics, it takes a whack on a vulnerable bit of the floor (à la Silverstone last year) Perez won’t necessarily beat Leclerc, Hamilton or Alonso.
drmouse (@drmouse)
12th March 2023, 16:21
I’m not so sure. The car seems to have enough of an advantage that even Perez should win with it when Max has a problem, at least for the first half of the season or so until one of the other teams closes the gap a little.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
12th March 2023, 16:52
The car’s good for sure – but Checo seems to have a few average races. I can’t see him winning ten Grands Prix like Bottas did.
drmouse (@drmouse)
12th March 2023, 18:59
Nor can I, but I can’t see him needing to either.
Until the latter stages of the season at least, I can’t see Max losing any race where he doesn’t have a major issue, like a crash or a technical failure. I doubt there will be many of those*. Perez only needs to be there to fill the gap in those few occasions.
* In particular, Max didn’t look like he had to push at all after the first half dozen laps and he was still lapping faster than anyone else. The less you push, the less stress you place on all components. This showed particularly in Bahrain in how well the tyres lasted, but it will likely show up later in fewer engine component replacements etc.
It also massively reduces the likelihood of accidents, as not only is he a long way ahead of anyone who may wish to fight him on track, but also he will have to push the car less in any battles he faces which reduces the chance of him making a mistake and gives him a margin if he needs to avoid someone else’s mistake.
Finally, RBR run a very tight ship. It’s very rare they make a strategic blunder, mess up a pit stop, or anything else.
TL;DR I don’t think there will be 10 races where Max fails to win. I would estimate 5 at most. As long as the RBR advantage is still as large as it appears at those, Perez should still claim a victory.
macaque (@macaque)
12th March 2023, 20:26
I can’t see Checo getting to 10 wins this year, but if he continues at Red Bull next year as well, and they are likely to continue this domination, then Checo could reach Bottas or overtake him.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
12th March 2023, 12:57
RBR may lift their foot off the pedal, Mercedes style, by the end of the season and let Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes fight for a couple of wins. This will also enable them to focus on the RB20 earlier than they used to do due to the budget cap penalty. Technically speaking the RB19 and Max Verstappen are the complete package and they can win on every single track this year.
Though Christian Horner is a political beast, he is aware that F1, and by Ross Brawn’s own admission in 2021, if they suspected any team having a clear advantage from a loophole in the rules, they can close it mid season. We’ve seen already an example last year to bring Mercedes close to the front with the TD039. Not to mention F1 obsession with more drama and show.
melanos
12th March 2023, 14:02
All wins with so many different circuits is highly unlikely even with a Fezza Sharknose kind of dominance. And I want a lucky win for Fred;)
But 18-22 seems doable, with some odd win for Charles or George
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:42
Wouldn’t be surprised if hamilton wins a race as well if merc gets a chance at all, he’s still at least on russel’s level.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
12th March 2023, 14:23
If they win every single race it will make them look poor in the history books.
They will be looked down on as having had no competition rather than having been a fighting team.
I wouldn’t want to win every single race. Just enough to secure the titles.
Imre (@f1mre)
12th March 2023, 18:45
I don’t think so. McLaren MP4/4 or the Ferrari F2004 are regarded as two of the best F1 cars ever.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:47
Indeed, I find the mclaren 1988 particularly impressive.
Electroball76
12th March 2023, 14:33
I fully expect something unexpected will happen and the next race will be P6 and DNF.
Then we can talk about how maybe this year could finally be Ferrari’s year! etc.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:49
Not when you’re 30 sec behind, that’s what’s prompting this thread I believe, that’s merc 2014-2016.
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
12th March 2023, 14:59
We’ve seen one race and yes the RB19 seemed to have plenty of pace in reserve, but its too early to write the season off. There will be a handful of crazy races this year that give opportunities to other drivers. Especially as the midfield is so compact now, we could have some really unexpected results.
drmouse (@drmouse)
12th March 2023, 16:24
Why would we write the season off? Dominance by one team is the norm in F1 and has been for decades. That in itself doesn’t make races or the championship boring.
If you write off a season because one team is dominant, F1 is probably not for you…
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
13th March 2023, 17:21
If Max won every race the season would be extremely boring for me, I’m not saying I can’t find interest elsewhere.. But the most exciting battles are for the win as is the most tension.
For the same reason Hamilton/Mercedes combo got really dull. It’s funny, I used to support Hamilton and couldn’t stand Rosberg when they were team mates. But 2016 was actually fantastic looking back and I actually appreciate Rosberg more now than I did then, it’s a shame he retired early, because he might have caused enough tension within Mercedes for Vettel to sneak a title with Ferrari. Instead domination.. Schumachers domination was probably the most boring for me, there would be races where he started at the back of the grid and you’d just know by the end of the race he’d have passed everyone and lapped most of the grid at least once by the end. That is impressive, sure.. But boring.
drmouse (@drmouse)
13th March 2023, 19:38
I can see that. It’s much more exciting if there’s a real fight for first in either championship.
All I’m saying is that that’s generally the norm in F1, or at least has been for most of my time watching F1 seriously (since the late 90s/early 2000s). One team has normally been dominant, and that team rarely has two drivers of similar enough calibre to really fight each other on merit, even where the team allows them to. Genuine battles for the title are fairly rare, hence why they are remembered so fondly. Even battles which keep the title mathematically alive until the closing stages aren’t that common.
AlonsoStig (@stigf1l)
12th March 2023, 15:12
I think the most disturbing factor would be reliability
Don
12th March 2023, 16:32
Another team may win one by accident. Good thing there’s IndyCar to watch!
Coventry Climax
12th March 2023, 19:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b-FFwVFMME
Dr.D
12th March 2023, 19:57
Didn’t we think the same about Ferrari last year? Everything can happen with 22 more races to go.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:58
I don’t think anyone ever expected ferrari to win all races last year, we know ferrari’s ways to lose by now!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 19:58
I wasn’t even sure they’d win monaco after they qualified 1-2, I said, they SHOULD win, but ferrari, so you never know, and indeed!
macaque (@macaque)
12th March 2023, 20:30
The scary thing here is that by the end of the year, Verstappen might have more wins than Vettel.
And I might add: “while Leclerc still has fewer wins than Webber, or even Ricciardo”.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
13th March 2023, 13:10
@macaque yeah, theoretically speaking, it can be done. Either way, he’s probably going to hit 50 wins.
David BR (@david-br)
12th March 2023, 21:59
18-22.
I don’t see any team being as fast as them all season. However there’s always rain, mechanical failure, collisions etc. to take Verstappen out of at least one race. And maybe one team will be close enough on a given today for someone to beat Perez – or Perez also has some issue on the same day as Verstappen. There’s also an off-chance that one team manages to develop the car enough by the end of the season to beat Red Bull in the final races when it’s all wrapped up and they’ve already committed all development to 2024.
Or who knows, maybe Mercedes stick on a new side pod design and, more fluke than anything else, it actually gets their car working. Wishful thinking, obviously. I don’t really see incremental changes at Ferrari and Aston Martin making enough difference – though Alonso seems confident they have a lot of new designs to add over the season, so who knows.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
12th March 2023, 22:41
80-20 rule is in effect. RB will win 80% of the races plus or minus 5%.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
13th March 2023, 13:15
@jimfromus That’s 18.4 races That’s a lot of races. Assuming Max wins 90-95% of those, he’ll win 16-17 races.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
13th March 2023, 20:01
Both expectations are not unrealistic with what appears to be a mercedes 2014-2016 dominance, I voted the 2nd highest option.
tielemst
12th March 2023, 23:48
Can’t see them winning every race. Apart from the uncertainty of motorized sports (engine failures, floor damage, taken out by a competitor or team mate), there’s also development. When RB has enough wins they’ll start to think about next year. That might make for tighter races near the end of the season (of course it might also mean RB hold their advantage for next year).
GmP (@gmp)
12th March 2023, 23:51
I would love for them to win all races. For just a sport competition not very attractive, but F1 is also an Engineering competition. I can enjoy it when one team just outperforms all others.
Don’t think it is realistic though. The other teams are will continue to develop, out engineer RB. And RB will have misses by driver, strategy, reliability. Or just bad luck with wrong place wrong time involved in accidents.
Voted four roughly half of the races, even a little less than last year. But I would be happy to be wrong in voting.
Boomerang
13th March 2023, 8:23
After Melbourne 1998. I thought that MP 4/13 will win every race.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
14th March 2023, 8:43
And you weren’t miles off. And they probably would have, had Senna been smarter.
sebsronnie (@sebsronnie)
15th March 2023, 15:17
98 not 88…
Mayrton
13th March 2023, 9:21
The Liberty media consumption circus entertainment model is rubbing off on this website. We are one race in…
sebsronnie (@sebsronnie)
15th March 2023, 15:18
Why don’t you ignore the article? There are plenty of others. This is fun speculation that will be a nice source of entertainment until Red Bull doesn’t win. Let’s enjoy it till then.
Qeki (@qeki)
13th March 2023, 10:07
I do believe Ferrari to win every remaining races but I think Red Bull will win most of them
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
13th March 2023, 13:17
It’s kind of disturbing when we’re contemplating Red Bull winning all the races in a jam packed season.
The lowest estimates center around 16-17 victories for Max after the 1st race accounting for the possibility of some other teams winning a few races. Red Bull need a top tier 2nd driver that can be racing wheel to wheel with Max or stay behind his car for the full race as opposed to needing the Hubble Telescope to identify Max’s position across time and space vis-a-vis their own:-)
KaIIe (@kaiie)
13th March 2023, 14:44
While this is possible, I remember seeing such questions asked in the past. For example, after the first race of 2007 or 2013, parts of the Finnish media went crazy and pondered the possibility of “Kimi’s team” winning all the races. While this time it is not about just the RBR being best for the tyres but rather seemingly the best overall package, the others will catch up and there will be something happening to them in some races. But it is looking ominous.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
14th March 2023, 8:41
I have them pegged for 19 of 23 wins. 3 Ferrari wins, 1 Mercedes win, 0 Aston Martin wins.