Liberty Media president and CEO Greg Maffei has joked that only a broken leg can stop Max Verstappen from dominating Formula 1, something the Dutchman is currently doing with embarrassing ease.
Since Liberty Media claimed the commercial rights to F1 in 2017, the sport has gone from strength to strength, although Verstappen and Red Bull have recently received criticism from the paddock – most notably Mercedes – for making the sport boring.
Verstappen and Red Bull are currently unstoppable, with the Milton Keynes-based team having won the last 15 races.
That is comfortably a new record for the most consecutive wins by a team, whilst the reigning World Champion broke the record for most consecutive wins by a single driver at the recent Italian Grand Prix (10 wins in a row).
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
Both championships will be going to Red Bull and Verstappen again this season, with the team having a chance to seal the Constructors’ this weekend in Singapore.
Behind Red Bull, the racing has been excellent, with Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren all being podium contenders.
Alpine, too, have claimed two podiums this season, highlighting how tight the field behind Red Bull is.
Maffei has found the fight behind Red Bull “quite interesting” and believes that F1 remains a “very attractive competitive product”.
“The midfield is quite interesting, and we can show statistically there’s more overtaking than has ever occurred,” said Maffei, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference, as reported by SpeedCafe.
“The challenge obviously is Max Verstappen is having an unbelievable year, a record-setting year.
“Stefano Domenicali (F1 CEO) is rightly trying to pivot and say, ‘Come watch this historic event. You’ve never seen success like this. You don’t want to miss it’. We’ll see if that works.
“The reality is, we have a very attractive competitive product, other than the fact that Max is that fast.”
As for Verstappen’s dominance, Maffei admitted that the 25-year-old is simply a “phenom”.
READ: 2023 Singapore GP: Sergio Perez’s mindset questioned as embarrassment could be repeated
“Short of breaking his leg, à la Tonya Harding, I’m not sure what we can do about that,” Maffei joked.
“But he’s a phenom. He’s driving what seems to be the fastest car and he’s driving it very well.
“If you look at the lines he’s taking, how aggressive those lines are, but how well he’s able to navigate them, it is truly stunning, and you can see, statistically, why he is faster than anybody else.”