As a result of his father’s rigorous training program, Max Verstappen eventually became known to the world as a “Mad Max” phenomenon. While ascending to the top echelons of motorsport, the Dutchman showed to the world how a tornado is on its way to shatter the myths surrounding Formula 1. And whatever doubt existed in the experts’ minds about him was dispelled after he made his debut with Toro Rosso. Years after his debut, Oscar Piastri made his way this year, and we heard a similar kind of excitement. And given that the F1 world has reached the midway point, all the discussions are making sense. However, Verstappen, who made his debut years ago, has been accused of stealing the thunder of the Melbourne driver. So what’s the matter?

At the young age of 17, Max Verstappen made his racing debut with Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri), entering the top echelon of the sport. The double champion demonstrated some promise, which led to his promotion to Red Bull’s seat in 2016. Although he was just starting out, his performance was too good as he scored 49 points in his debut season.

Now the same fervor is seen for Oscar Piastri. It wasn’t easy for him to make it to the top of Formula 1, as he was paired with a driver who had already made a name for himself and had easily defeated an 8-time Grand Prix champion Daniel Ricciardo. However, the way he presented himself on qualifying and race days showed that the MCL60 is under his control. Nevertheless, despite his brilliance, Verstappen’s rookie season performance still seems to be the gold standard. As of right now, even if Piastri is getting close to the Dutchman’s breakthrough points (34) Verstappen keeps stealing the show.

The host of The Race F1 podcast initially said while discussing Paistri’s rookie campaign, “You could always see that Oscar was a good driver. It was always clear that he has something special. But he would never strike off as someone like a Verstappen or a Leclerc.”

Later, while hailing Verstappen’s moves in his rookie season the host continued and said, “Verstappen was someone with whom everybody knew right away. Like halfway through his first season you rightaway knew and then he was in F1.”

As the discussion came to a close, the anchor used the Dutchman as a benchmark for the young drivers, claiming that the Red Bull driver’s skill influences the audience’s perception of the young drivers. As he added, “That messes with your brain a little bit on what to expect from junior drivers.”

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Although Lewis Hamilton originally made a splash with his debut, we have all witnessed how Verstappen has raised the standard for young drivers. While the comparison might go on forever, the true query, beyond Piastri, is: Can any driver who is not a Red Bull Driver win in 2023? Possibly Piastri?

Can Oscar Piastri overthrow the magical reign of Max Verstappen?

Max Verstappen and Red Bull have redefined domination. By maintaining their scorching form from last year, the team this year has won every round. Additionally, the team will always remember the 2023 season since it saw them win their 100th race and shatter McLaren’s long-standing streak of victories in a row (12).

But as they say, nothing lasts “forever.” The team’s wind tunnel time was cut by 10%, and as the season is now in its second half, there is the possibility that their penalty can cause them problems. However, prior to that, who can be the rivals to chase them down? Honestly, Mercedes (given their history) and McLaren (after providing updates) are their closest rivals.

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To put this reasoning into perspective, Piastri could’ve finished in the pole position for the Belgian sprint race just but missed it with just narrow margins of 0.11 seconds behind Verstappen. The story of Sunday, though, is still a different one. Combining this with Piastri’s record-breaking performance as the race’s rookie leader and the fact that only McLaren can be regarded as being in close proximity to Red Bull so far, it might be feasible.

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Red Bull is undoubtedly the favorite to win, but anything is possible given the dedication and tenacity the papaya army has displayed thus far. We’ll leave you with the fact that Red Bull continues to find the Italian GP to be a particularly challenging course. So can McLaren fully exploit this opportunity?