Lammers puts Verstappen madness in perspective: 'Don't cheer too early'

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing emerge from the 2023 F1 winter tests as towering favourites. According to former Dutch F1 driver Jan Lammers, Verstappen fans should not cheer too soon. It is the opposite situation from last year.

Verstappen fans don't cheer too soon!

So writes Lammers in his column for De Telegraaf. The Dutchman urges everyone not to forget how things went last year. Back then, Verstappen seemed hopeless for the title after two crashes, but in the end the Red Bull Racing driver won the championship crushingly.

Lammers: "After the Formula 1 test days in Bahrain, I already hear people saying that it could be a very boring season. I think that is absolute nonsense. Of course Red Bull is looking fantastic at the moment and they too probably didn't show everything last weekend. But it sometimes seems now that it is just a formality for Max Verstappen to win his third world title."

Mercedes and Ferrari have more to show

Lammers expects the difference between Red Bull and its rivals to be less pronounced in reality than it seemed in Bahrain during the test days: "I expect Mercedes to come closer. Last year things happened there that they didn't understand, because there was no good correlation between their simulation models and what actually happened on the tarmac. I think now they know more and more about the car, they know better what they are doing and can identify problems faster."

The same goes for Ferrari according to Lammers. The Italians did not show what they are capable of during the test days. The Dutchman observes that there is less pressure to prove themselves at the Scuderia and the team is likely to have more calm and stability. That can only mean positivity for the team that got off to such a quick start last year.