Verstappen's vs Hamilton's Dominance

Some have considered Max Verstappen’s and RedBull’s dominance to be even comparable to the prime days of the Silver Arrows, and Lewis Hamilton. Although I am here to argue that anyone who thinks that is totally and utterly wrong.

Lewis Hamilton’s first taste of the Mercedes supremacy to come was when he first moved to the Silver Arrows in 2013. He was competitive enough to leave most journalists gobsmacked at the performance boost that Hamilton and Mercedes have received that season. But despite Sebastian Vettel winning the title by a mile and a half, the very smell and scent of the authority to come for Mercedes was enough for Hamilton.

Right off the bat, the 2014 season was a sight to behold. Mercedes immediately stepped in the way of RedBull taking a 5th title in a row, and then went on to Claim 16 wins in total between their two drivers, Nico Rosberg, and Lewis Hamilton. Daniel Ricciardo was the only other driver to win that season and was the only person to separate Mercedes 16 wins throughout the year. 2014 saw a tight title fight, but as the season came to a close,  Lewis Hamilton won his 2nd world championship by roughly 70 points clear from his teammate.

2015 was a tighter fight between the Mercedes drivers. Lewis, yet again claimed another title, finishing on almost exactly the same points as the previous year, only his rival and teammate was many points closer.

It was in 2016 that the title fight became tense. The race, and eventually the world driver’s championship, went down to a last-race, last-lap battle between Rosberg and Hamilton. Despite

Hamilton winning the race, Rosberg’s 2nd place finish was enough to keep him ahead of Lewis in the standings, making Nico Rosberg a Formula One world champion.

The seasons following, ’17, ’18, ’19, and ’20 looked similar to the previous years, a close title fight at the start but going Hamilton’s way as the season finished off. By the new era of F1 in 2022, Hamilton had, and currently has, the world record for most pole positions, wins, podiums, and career points made in Formula One.

Statistic dominance that did not seem like it in the moment.

Max Verstappen’s dominance however is vastly different to Hamilton’s. Verstappen showed real championship fighting pace in the 2021 season, which resulted in a controversial title win for Verstappen over a debated last lap battle with Lewis. The following year was something unlike anyone has seen before.

Verstappen won almost every race that season, winning 15 of the 22 races throughout the year. Max had the championship wrapped up by the Japanese Grand Prix, 4 races before the season finished, eventually finishing over 140 points from Leclerc.

This current season in F1 is, to a further extent, unlike anything we have seen before in F1. RedBull has won every race so far, Verstappen missing out on two wins due to his teammate Sergio Perez. Verstappen alone is currently beating the entirety of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team by 50 points clear. Keeping in mind that this article was written HALFWAY through the 2023 season. Halfway, and Verstappen alone is already on 314 points to Mercedes’ total of 247 points. Ridiculous dominance. The recent races have seen that RedBull can be competed with on a one lap basis, with McLaren’s Norris nearly beating Verstappen in qualifying position on multiple occasions. However qualifying is not the session that you make points in F1.

Come race day, these RedBull rocket ships that we are seeing cannot even be challenged. All the drivers that have been ahead of Verstappen (due to pitstops) have said that when they see a RedBull wearing Verstappen’s number in their mirrors, they just move out of the way, because fighting would be almost idiotic and stupid.

Whilst this dominance, in my opinion, has made F1 extremely dull and boring to watch, there has to be a team to win the title. If all the drivers and teams were absolutely equal, then there would be no championship fight.

So as a huge fan of the open-wheeled, single seater and speedy sport we watch, we will have to go through with the dominances of some teams, otherwise there would be no goals for teams to strive for, and therefore, no competition.

But to conclude, the hay-day of Mercedes in contrast to RedBull’s, is completely different and anyone who thinks otherwise is totally and utterly wrong.

Sources and References -

Formula 1 (2019). The official home of Formula 1® | F1.com. [online] Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Available at: https://www.formula1.com/.