15 May 2023 , 15:32
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Formula 1 will not intervene to curb Red Bull's performance advantage, chief executive Stefano Domenicali has pledged.
Five races so far this year have all been won by the same team. Max Verstappen took victory in three of them with Sergio Perez successful in the other two, giving Red Bull an already imperious 122-point lead at the top of the standings.
Naturally, the other teams are not pleased to be so far off the pace and some fans have complained too. The absence of a title race has made the season dull to some, while there have been calls for the sport to step in to help promote more competition at the front of the grid.
But Domenicali has declared that won't be happening. "This year, we need to say the truth – Red Bull did a better job than the others, it's a fact," he said at an event in London hosted by the Financial Times.
He added: "But I would be imprudent to say the championship is finished. We cannot intervene in the performance of the teams. I am sure what we did in terms of [the] financial regulations will help to minimise the gap on the technical side."
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Complaints over Red Bull's dominance have coincided with two races in which there wasn't a great deal of action. Speaking after that Baku-Miami double header, Lewis Hamilton suggested the most recent changes to car design rules, intended to promote closer racing, have not been successful.
The Red Bulls have been unstoppable so far this season (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)He said: "It's not my job to convince people to watch a sport. I'm not watching so it's not boring for me. But as a fan watching, I can understand because it's not as competitive as maybe the NFL or the NBA at the moment. As a sport, it has tried to bring the teams closer but it never seems to work."
But, echoing what Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said on many occasions, Hamilton believes the responsibility is on his team to reel in Red Bull rather than simply changing the rules to curb the leaders' advantage. He added: "All I can say is that we're working as hard as we can to close up and get back and give them more of a fight. It's just unfortunate that we still see the same sort of gaps between the teams."
And he warned that, if his team fails to make significant strides, it may be a long time before Mercedes can go toe-to-toe with Red Bull. The Brit said: "I don't know what the solution is for the future, but we are going to have to adapt to these regulations. Otherwise it could be the same as it is now for years."