He achieved his second consecutive world title with 15 victories, two more than those achieved by Schumacher and Vettel. He certified it at the Japanese Grand Prix, four races from the conclusion
Max Verstappen I suspected it from the cheers of his mechanics in the middle of the interview, after the Japanese Grand Prix, but he entered the podium anteroom convinced that he would still have to wait another two weeks. When he saw that everyone was congratulating him, he asked around with growing bewilderment. I would say no, right? No, right? yes Sure?. They went four times, the last two to an officer. Only then did he adjust his cap and go into a small room where a huge screen, a royal chair and a wall announcing him in very large letters were waiting for him: Formula 1 world champion.
It is the closest that someone came to questioning the second crown of Max Verstappen, and it was himself, who was not clear about how the points dance would be in Suzuka. After the agony with which he won his first title, overtaking Lewis Hamilton On the last lap of the last race, and with a much-discussed decision to direct the race, the Dutchman unquestionably dominated this year. Champion with four weeks in advance, a record of victories (15, surpassing the 13 of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel) and a double from Red Bull to break the long reign of Mercedes.
The first title is always the most emotional, but I think that this, by performance, is undoubtedly the best, settled as soon as he retained his crown. Something unthinkable at the beginning of the course, when Red Bull was fighting with an overweight problem and Verstappen retired in two of the first three races.
An intense duel with Ferrari was then expected, like the ones he starred in with Charles Leclerc in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. But as the Austrian team added kilos to the scale and the Dutchman refined his driving, a gap opened up that would soon be immeasurable.
Verstappen dominated to such an extent that in Monza, with seven races to go, he was already talking about handling the mattress. We don’t need any more victories, he came to say minutes before departure. But I love them. And I won. Starting with that same circuit in which he had never been on the podium and in which he started with a five-place penalty for changing his engine. He won starting from seventh place, just as he had done in Hungary starting 10. How superior it would be that even in Belgium, starting 14, he was a favourite. And I won.
It was an incredible weekend, I remembered a few days ago in F1 Talks. I had never experienced such dominance in Formula 1. From the moment we went out on the track, everything worked well. We knew we had the penalty, but even if I had to start fourteenth, I was convinced that if I got through the first lap without damage I was going to win.
Nine wins without starting first
The victory at Spa-Francorchamps was the embodiment of a pilot in a state of grace. This season, the FIA thoroughly renewed its regulations to favor spectacle and overtaking, and few got more out of it than Verstappen, who achieved nine of his 15 victories without starting from the first place on the grid. Once Red Bull managed to pack those extra pounds and sharpen the car to the taste of your first bladethe Dutchman flew spectacularly towards the title.
Verstappen has won nine of the last 11 races. With the victory in Suzuka he closed his second World Cup; with the following one in the United States he gave Red Bull the first constructors’ title since 2013 and broke the points record in a season, which was held by the British Lewis Hamilton; With the victory in Mexico, he broke the record for victories in Michael Schumacher Y Sebastian Vettel; and with that of Abu Dhabi he closed an overwhelming course. A solvency that has nothing to do with the agony of his first title.
Mercedes did not fix its rebound problems in time with the new car and Hamilton went empty for the first time in his career. Ferrari, which started the campaign so well, was lost between strategic errors by its mechanics and a persistent problem with tire degradation. Leclerc was the closest to the Dutchman and Carlos Sainz scored his first victory at Silverstone, but the irregularity condemned the Italians.
Verstappen’s dominance was the best demonstration of that hunger that also once betrayed him. Like when, with the championship already in his showcase, he refused to help his teammate Czech Prez in the fight for second place.
The Mexican, whom he accuses of having an accident on purpose at the Monaco Grand Prix to cancel the classification, would finish the World Cup third, just three points behind Leclerc. At 25 years old, and after signing an overwhelming season, Verstappen aspires to mark an era in Formula 1