Red Bull’s divisive dominance, Fernando Alonso’s stress – F1 News Roundup

Is everyone still hanging in there? With one more day to go, F1’s return to action at next weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix is ​​one step closer.

Double world champion Max Verstappen is so excited for his home race that he has already revealed the special helmet design he will wear at Zandvoort as talk continues of slowing down the dominant Red Bull team, winners of every race so far in 2023.

These are the main headlines from today’s update…

The former F1 star expects the FIA ​​to curb Red Bull’s dominance

Dominance in sports. There’s a very fine line between being something to admire and something that turns you off.

After 12 consecutive wins in 2023 – 13 if you include last season’s finale in Abu Dhabi – a growing number are reaching this crossroads with Red Bull.

F1 is unique in most sports in that organizers can tear up the rulebook with the stated aim of destabilizing the dominant teams, and indeed a single rule change was enough to finish Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull (the first time) and Mercedes Dynasties only in the last 30 years.

Speaking exclusively to PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher, former Shadow F1 driver David Kennedy believes that with no other team/driver combination likely to beat Red Bull and Verstappen “from this point on”, the emphasis may soon be it falls to the governing body of the FIA ​​to intervene.

As Kennedy so aptly put it: “There is nothing worse than knowing what the result will be.”

Read more: ‘Magic’ Red Bull ‘could face FIA ​​intervention’ as dominant run continues

Mario Andretti: Red Bull’s dominance is admirable

If Kennedy is moving towards one camp when it comes to Red Bull dominance, Mario Andretti is firmly in the other.

In yet another Thomas exclusive, the 1978 World Champion told PlanetF1.com that the perfection achieved by Verstappen and his team captures “the beauty of this sport”.

He told us: “It’s just that somebody has a bit of an edge, and anybody who shows that, I have a lot of respect for, because I know it’s scary to be able to pull that off.”

If anyone knows all about what it takes to win in car racing and the respect it commands, it’s Super Mario.

Read more: Exclusive: Mario Andretti gives verdict on the impact of Max Verstappen’s dominance

Fernando Alonso made Lance Stroll ‘stressed’ at Aston Martin

Shall we apologize for packing today’s roundup full of local stories so far? No, dear reader. No we are not.

So let’s go next to On Track GP – the YouTube channel launched in partnership between PlanetF1.com and DR Sports in 2023 – where Le Mans winner Richard Bradley offered an insight into the dynamic between the teams between Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll .

Stroll was always likely to go up against him alongside the two-time World Champion in 2023, his cause not helped by injuries sustained in a pre-season cycling accident, with Alonso scoring nearly three times as many points as what has the canadian collected so far .

Richard believes Alonso’s impact on Stroll is evident even in his team radio interactions during a race, commenting: “When you listen to him on the radio, he definitely sounds stressed.

“He sounds like the most stressed driver on the grid, maybe that’s just his personality.”

Read more: Lance Stroll named ‘most stressed driver on grid’ thanks to Fernando Alonso

Otmar Szafnauer speaks after leaving the Alps

Everyone knows by now that Otmar Szafnauer, the recently ousted Alpine team captain, has a way with words.

Who could forget his ‘two popes’ comment about his awkward relationship with Laurens Stroll at Aston Martin? Or his immediate reaction to losing his job in a very public way at Spa the other week?

“I always say: you can’t get nine women pregnant and hope you have a baby in a month,” he said in a remark that will live long in the memory.

I have no idea what he meant, of course, but at least he made everyone laugh. Well done Otmar We will miss him.

Assuming these were the words of a man in shock at Spa, it will be great news to learn that Szafnauer is at it again—this time with something about pirates and the navy.

Behind the very amusing analogies, however, lies a serious message to the Alpine/Renault regime who believe they will be better off without him.

“I think Renault’s senior management, CEO Luca de Meo, like everyone in Formula 1, wants success immediately – and unfortunately it doesn’t work that way in Formula 1,” he told SiriusXM’s Cars & Culture with Jason Stein.

Read more: Otmar Szafnauer deals a huge blow to Alpine management after sudden departure

Will Red Bull’s dominance continue beyond 2025?

Let’s finish where we started, shall we? With Red Bull winning everything.

All empires eventually fall and hopefully Red Bull will be finished in 2026 when F1’s next major rule changes come into effect.

As mentioned here before, massive regulation changes have a funny way of knocking down the dominant teams – but who’s to say Red Bull will be denied in ’26?

A reminder that Mercedes came through the 2017/19/21 rule changes relatively unscathed before ground effect finally got it in 2022.

And, based on Helmut Marko’s latest comments, it appears that Red Bull is confident of retaining its position in 2026, having significantly boosted its emerging Red Bull Powertrains program and entered into a technical partnership with Ford.

“I don’t think we’re technically behind,” he told Motorsport-Total.com. “We’ve brought in people from Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Cosworth. We have Ford as an industry partner. We have absolute top people in the internal combustion engine. And we have two very bright minds on the electrical side.

“In August, we are launching a full combustion engine with MGU-K and battery. There we are miles ahead of Audi, we are miles ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes is about the same.”

Gulp.

Read more: Attention Ferrari and Audi: Red Bull’s 2026 F1 engine is ‘miles ahead’

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