Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has warned Formula 1 officials against interfering in the 2023 season to limit Red Bull’s performance advantage over its rivals.
Red Bull had prepared for a challenging outfit at the Monaco Grand Prix but Max Verstappen appeared unfazed by the lack of advantage around the tricky track, delivering a phenomenal qualifying performance in the last sector to claim pole on Saturday.
The Dutchman powered to victory, holding onto P1 by the chequered flag to take his second victory in the principality despite a rain shower threatening to cause chaos around the grid.
Verstappen held off the determined Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, maintaining Red Bull’s 100% win record this year and extending his lead in the title race to 39 points over teammate Sergio Perez.
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Despite no team on the grid managing to end Red Bull’s era of domination, Wolff feels it would be wrong for Formula 1 to meddle with the rules or regulations to prevent the world champions from leading the pack.
“Formula 1 is a meritocracy,” Wolff told reporters.
“The car is fast in all conditions, the driver is on the top of his game. Even in the race, going off at times, but not retiring, is a skill, and you can see that he pushed.
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“All credit to them, we just need to do a better job. We just need to catch up, find intelligent solutions, hope that our development slope is steeper than theirs and eventually fight for this again.”
Mercedes did show signs of a potential comeback in Monaco, having proved capable of impressive pace at points, but they are still far behind Red Bull’s 249 point tally this season.
With just 119 points, Mercedes are closing in on Aston Martin but it will take some significant failures from Red Bull for the championship to be reclaimed by the Silver Arrows.