Credibility over Max Verstappen’s maiden F1 championship crown in 2021 was put under spotlight over the late safety car incident at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that handed him the championship rather than Lewis Hamilton who comfortably led the race until that point.
Had Hamilton won the race, he would have surpassed Michael Schumacher for most world championships but it went to Verstappen and a new champion was made.
2022 was expected to be even tighter between Verstappen and Hamilton but it was the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr that stole the headlines as the fastest team in pre-season testing while it wasn’t a good one for Mercedes. The Scuderia lived up to the hype with Leclerc taking victory in the season opener in Bahrain while Red Bull had a double DNF.
Verstappen took his first win of the season in the next race in Saudi Arabia but would have another DNF in Australia. At this point, the Dutchman was 46 points behind Leclerc in the championship and it seemed the Italian team’s first title in 15 years was coming back to Maranello.
From the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix however, Verstappen started what was going to be a dominant season for Red Bull while it was a season of struggle for Ferrari. The Austrian team won every race bar the British Grand Prix, Austrian Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen taking 15 race wins out of 22, a record in a season. He won three races in a row twice (Emilia-Romagna to Spain and Japan to United States). He also won five races on the bounce between the French Grand Prix and Italian Grand Prix).
Verstappen’s had some memorable races, coming from 10th in the hard-to-overtake Hungarororing in Hungary to win and charging from last – after taking an engine penalty – to win in Belgium. That was how dominant he was. His car was also in good shape with good reliability and great strategy from the Red Bull pit crew.
Ferrari had no answer to them neither did Mercedes who were abysmal pace wise for all the season with just one race win in Sao Paulo via George Russell. Hamilton would be so disappointed as he ended the season without a race win, the first time such would happen in his illustrious career.
Red Bull were just simply untouchable as they sealed their fifth constructors championship and first since 2013. The manner in which Verstappen and his team took control at the front of the grid is something that should worry other teams in 2023. Red Bull were miles ahead of the rest so much they finished 205 points clear of Ferrari.
Even Verstappen finished 146 points ahead Leclerc, clinching the title in Japan with four races to go. The recent breach of the cost cap regulations in 2021 also did nothing to deter their performance on the race track.
Such dominance is likely to repeat itself in 2023 with no massive regulation changes expected until 2026. This means the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes might not match up while Verstappen will rake in more titles. This will be a big blow to the likes of Hamilton who is looking for his eighth championship and Leclerc searching for his first.
The pendulum seems to have swung from seven years of Mercedes dominance to the return of Red Bull dominance last witnessed between 2010 and 2013 with the now-retired Sebastian Vettel.
Verstappen has a long-term contract with Red Bull until 2028 and has indicated he will remain with the Milton Keynes team until then, after which he will consider his future.
“I don’t know after that [end of his contract],” he told Sky Sports F1.
“But it also probably depends how competitive we are in ’28. I’ve still got time. I don’t want to make drastic decisions now.”
By 2028, Verstappen would be 31 and it would be amazing what he can achieve by that time which could include winning a championship each year. If he does that, he would have won eight consecutive titles and would surpass Schumacher as the all-time greatest driver. Its a long shot but with two in the bag, impossible is nothing.
There is still an awful lot to come for Verstappen and the F1 grid should be bracing up for it.
