Max Verstappen was surprised by Red Bull's dominance in 2022 and hinted at a tinge of regret that Ferrari's Charles Leclerc could not push him closer in a title battle.
The irrepressible Verstappen left his F1 rivals in his dust as he steamrolled to a second world title with 15 race victories in a supreme season. It was a dream year for Red Bull as Verstappen clinched the Drivers Championship in serene style with four races to spare.
But it had appeared early on that Leclerc would rival the Dutchman in a similar title showdown to his epic duel with Lewis Hamilton in 2021.
Ferrari made a fast start and Leclerc opened up an early 46-point advantage on Verstappen by winning two of the first three races as Red Bull suffered reliability issues.
However, a series of DNFs from engine blowouts, combined with a catalogue of Ferrari errors including individual driver mistakes and poor strategic calls, caused the Scuderia to capitulate and Verstappen was quickly left completely unchallenged.
Verstappen, who is expecting more competition in 2023, was surprised how quickly Red Bull asserted control as he eventually finished 146 points clear of Leclerc in the drivers' standings.
"On the one hand, yes," he said when asked if he wanted Leclerc to stay in the title hunt for longer.
"But if you look at how close the cars were, it's a bit surprising to have such a big gap anyway. There weren't many weekends in which we were really dominant.
"But I mean, at the end, I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out, especially after the season I had last year [2021].
"It's not always good to have that kind of fight every single year. And I do think next year, everything will be closer anyway."
Ferrari hope to mount a stronger title challenge to Red Bull in 2023 and Leclerc will be desperate for his team to deliver the consistency in performance that has been lacking.
Meanwhile, Mercedes showed promising progress towards the end of 2022 and seven-time world champion Hamilton will be keen to reignite his rivalry with Verstappen during the sport's longest ever calendar of races.
