A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN

Verstappen starts the season with another easy victory as he and his Red Bull team prove they are a class apart from their rivals

- ANDY DUNN

BEFORE a wheel had turned in the new Formula One season, George Russell said the Red Bull team was in a league of its own.

He was spot-on but he could have elaborated. The Red Bull team is in a league of its own and Max Verstappen is in a league of his own.

One race one procession - into the 2023 schedule and, already, it is not a question of whether Verstappen can retain his world championship, it is a question of when he does it.

Longer term, thoughts can turn to how many titles the outrageously talented 25-year-old can amass but, for now, the purists can just sit back and enjoy a master of his craft.

In this Red Bull machine, Verstappen is simply untouchable.

And with Ferrari demonstrating their perennial unreliability and Mercedes way off the pace, it is almost impossible to identify a potential challenger.

Perhaps 41-year-old Fernando Alonso, who rolled back the years with a buccaneering drive that gave him only his second podium finish since 2014, can give his fellow double world champion the odd fright in the odd race.