ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Red Bull’s rivals may not be able to catch up with Max Verstappen and his dominant Formula One team until the next rule change in 2026, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said.
The Monegasque was overall runner-up to the Dutch driver last year but since then Verstappen has won 10 of 12 races and is heading for a record-equalling ninth in a row at his home grand prix on Sunday.
Red Bull are on an unbeaten run of 13 races dating back to last season’s Abu Dhabi finale and have triumphed in 21 of the last 22.
“They have a really big margin and it’s going to be very difficult to catch them before the change of regulations (in 2026),” Leclerc told reporters at Zandvoort.
Mercedes’ seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton feared Verstappen might be unbeatable in the remaining 10 races of 2023.
“There is a high chance that he will win every race,” he told reporters.
“They might win everything. Hopefully later on in the year, we’ll get closer, maybe.
“The fact is they are far ahead and most likely have started developing next year’s car already… so it’s very, very possible that Charles could be right.”
Hamilton’s team mate George Russell said Mercedes, second in the constructors’ championship, hoped to be in a position to cash in if Red Bull did slip up, and took hope from past experience.
“I think going into this second half of the season we can be there to hopefully pick up any pieces that fall our way,” he said.
“Last year we had the mentality that Singapore would probably be our only opportunity in the second half to win a race and when we didn’t win in Singapore there was a bit of disappointment.
“There were no expectations going into Brazil and we came away with a victory there. So we’ll treat every race as an opportunity.”
Russell’s win in Sao Paulo last November in a Mercedes one-two remains the last time anyone other than a Red Bull driver stood on top of the podium.
A fully re-energised Daniel Ricciardo spelled out his Formula One plans, saying he wanted to race for a few more years before ending his career within the Red Bull family.
The 34-year-old Australian started his comeback with Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri last month, after taking time out following his exit from McLaren at the end of 2022, but hopes eventually to return to reigning champions Red Bull Racing.
Red Bull’s Mexican Sergio Perez will be out of contract as double world champion Max Verstappen’s team mate at the end of next season.
Ricciardo’s two years at McLaren were disappointing, generally eclipsed by younger team mate Lando Norris, but he said at the Dutch Grand Prix he was in a good place again and had a point to prove.
“Now that I’m back in the Red Bull family it’s the only place I want to be and want to stay,” he told Sky Sports television.
“However much longer my career is, it’s where I want to end my career.
“It feels like it’s the perfect way to finish this second part of my career and of course the dream is to get back to the big team. But if it’s not that, then I made it clear that I want to be here (AlphaTauri).”
Ricciardo told reporters he was looking well beyond the end of the season.
“I want to be racing for a few more years,” he said. “Six months ago that was not my answer… It feels like me 10 years ago, I feel like I do have that young energy again and that motivation.
“I want to get back to the early days and the real kind of roots and the core of why I got into this and the things that motivated me… just kind of strip everything back and get back to the pure enjoyment of the sport and the love of it.”
Ricciardo had no need for an August break after missing the first 10 races but he said it gave him more time to work on his fitness while others switched off.
“I was certainly looking after my body more than I usually would on a summer break,” he said.
“This second chapter of my career I am feeling different about things… I’m in a very good place and taking it seriously.”
Ricciardo said he felt like he had hit the ground running in Hungary and Belgium but needed to make sure he did not get back into ‘old habits’.
