Carlos Sainz claims the recent drama at the Italian Grand Prix even made Mercedes realise Formula 1 was more exciting without them at the front.
The Spaniard found himself battling Pierre Gasly for victory at Monza, this after Valtteri Bottas struggled to recover from a poor start and Lewis Hamilton was given a 10-second stop/go penalty for pitting while the lane was closed.
And in a year where the German manufacturer has again dominated by claiming every pole and winning seven of the nine races, Sainz admitted hope the upcoming budget cap and technical changes could make F1 more competitive.
“Of course there is frustration,” he told Autoweek. “But the way F1 works today is that it is clear that the team with the most money will always win.
“I don’t want to take any credit from them because the way Mercedes is exploiting its full potential right now is spectacular.
“In fact, there are teams with similar budgets that are having a hard time reaching their level, but that does not mean that I do not hope that Formula 1 changes.
“I think we could have a much more spectacular F1, and I think even Mercedes has realised how exciting a Grand Prix was without them,” the McLaren driver added.
“Honestly, behind the Mercedes, our races are always like that.”
The Brackley-based team did make a point in acknowledging their loss at Monza was a “victory for F1”, but Max Verstappen doubts those words are sincere.
“They just try to be polite, of course, but deep down they want to crush/destroy everyone, that is what I would like to do as well,” said the Red Bull driver
“I would like to crush everyone and try to lap everyone during the race. But in the press you have to be politically correct sometimes and say ‘it is a bit boring, isn’t it?’ What else should they say?”