Ex-Formula 1 race winner Johnny Herbert claims that Red Bull’s current dominance is “not a good thing” for the sport.
After winning 10 of the final 11 races in 2022, Red Bull has extended its competitive advantage over the rest to sweep to victory in all 12 races to take place this season.
The Austrian outfit has surpassed McLaren’s previous all-time F1 record from 1988 for the most consecutive wins by a single team.
Meanwhile, having triumphed at the past eight rounds, Verstappen is aiming to equal Sebastian Vettel’s benchmark for the most victories in a row by a driver this weekend.
Asked in an exclusive interview with CasinoSite.nl what he predicts to occur in Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix – the first race after the summer break – Herbert said: “Short answer? Max is going to win! And that’s great for him and Red Bull but not necessarily for the sport.”
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner recently addressed that he would want no repeat of the titanic title battle the side encountered against Mercedes in 2021.
While Herbert can understand Horner’s view, he believes Red Bull’s success is damaging to the sport, adding that Verstappen must be “bored out of his skull” by the lack of competition.
“Christian Horner has made it clear that Red Bull have no intention of letting up and not dominating the sport. That worries me,” he added.
“That is a mentality I understand, but from the racing point of view it is not a good thing if all they want to do is dominate. We want to make the sport better.
“I would have thought Max is probably bored out of his skull. It is lovely winning and dominating but it is not challenging. And Max is the type of character that wants to be challenged. No-one is able to do that.
“You can say it’s up to everyone else to raise their game to create what Red Bull have created. As an ex-racer I’d want to be pushed and tested and challenged, I’d want to race. I wouldn’t want to just disappear into the distance. It is nice every now and again.”
Herbert went on to criticise the new ground effect regulations introduced last year, citing how the overhaul hasn’t achieved its aim of stopping singular team domination.
“The team’s whole ethos is to dominate but we don’t want domination. That was the whole concept of what the ground effect car was supposed to have improved.
“It concerns me. How do you change that to create more competition? After all, it is a competition. Or supposed to be.
“You can always throw at me that it’s always been a part of F1. It has but not for the extent that Red Bull is doing now, for four or more years.
“I still feel that the teams have too much control in terms of where that development should go for the future of F1. That is where I think it needs to be taken back by the FIA to work out what needs to be done to make racing better without teams opposing everything.”
Herbert is convinced that F1’s viewership figures will soon suffer as a consequence the longer Verstappen and Red Bull’s unbeaten run continues.
The three-time F1 race winner has compared the Austrian outfit’s success with football’s Manchester City, who became only the second English club side to win what is regarded as the ‘Treble’ this year.
“With a procession each week, who is going to watch? That’s always the problem,” he explained.
“Red Bull don’t care about the people who might tune off. But it has to be entertaining.
“It is not just about F1 competing against other motorsports, it is other sports too, football for example. Man City may dominate but the actual games invariably are exciting to watch.
“You have got to make that happen in F1. Is total domination what we really want? Is that what Max wants? I don’t think so.
“There has got to be a point where someone has got to get hold of the reins and steer it in the direction that is beneficial for the sport overall. Competitive racing will be much more appealing for the sport, brings in more sponsorship and it is a virtuous circle.”
