Ex-Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat believes “everyone’s beatable” in Formula 1, including reigning World Champion Max Verstappen.
Verstappen has made an exceptional start to the 2023 F1 season and is the comfortable favourite to win a third consecutive title, something which would see him join the likes of Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna as a three-time World Champion.
The two-time World Champion has claimed two wins from the opening three races this season, whilst he finished second at the only race he hasn’t won.
As a result of his strong start to the season, he leads the championship by 15 points ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a race he won 12 months ago.
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To highlight Verstappen’s dominance since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced, the 25-year-old has won 17 of the last 25 races, meaning he’s won 68-percent of the races since the new regs were introduced.
With this in mind, Kvyat believes the Dutchman deserves “credit” but that he is “beatable”, if the “conditions” are right.
“Of course, you have to give him credit,” Kvyat told the Track Limits podcast.
“He’s been doing an amazing job. Very strong. Wheel-to-wheel also very strong, probably the strongest wheel-to-wheel.
“But I think everyone’s beatable, for sure, in certain conditions and the team has given him everything he needs, everything he wants.”
With Red Bull’s 2022 and 2023 cars having been the strongest since the new regs, Kvyat believes several drivers would be able to win races if they had a car as strong as the Austrians.
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Kvyat, who hasn’t raced in F1 since 2020, believes “the car makes a big difference still”, something perhaps proven by Mercedes’ struggles since their didn’t have the best car on the grid.
“I think there are at least 12 to 15 guys who could be definitely race winners, maybe 10 World Champions and the car makes a big difference still,” Kvyat added.
“But I think a lot of strong guys have strong personalities and everyone is quite different, but everyone is able to be winning. Maybe except a couple of guys, but let’s not go there!”