Dominance doesn’t always bring about true appreciation for what someone has achieved, but Max Verstappen’s latest drivers’ title should be considered something special.
Verstappen was already able to secure a place at the very top of Formula 1 history, but his fourth World Championship catapulted him into bigger company as he won four more titles alongside Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel, Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. I ordered it.
Of those, only Prost has not won four in a row. This shows how the best drivers can profit when they have machines they can take into battle. But where Verstappen’s success this year really stands out is in the context of the Red Bull season.
Currently sitting in third place in the Constructors’ Championship and looking increasingly likely to stay there, Verstappen could create a scenario where he becomes only the third driver in history to win the Drivers’ Championship when driving for a team outside of the top two positions. It is planned.
Of the two previous occasions, 1982 was a surprise year, giving Keke Rosberg the championship by just one win. At the time, his Williams team was fourth overall, but 16 points adrift of champions Ferrari, with 15 points on offer heading into the weekend.
A season later Nelson Piquet took the lead for Brabham and his team finished third, 17 points behind Ferrari.
Even if Red Bull do win the positions in the final two rounds, it is a rare achievement that should not be overlooked, as there have only been 11 occasions on which a driver has won the title without the team taking the constructor’s crown.
But it’s okay to admit that it was easy to do so at the beginning of the year. The familiarity of Verstappen’s winning races meant that each victory did not always receive the same scrutiny as it would now in retrospect.
Take, for example, Imola, where Verstappen won his fifth race in the first seven rounds. He was denied the chance to succeed in Melbourne due to reliability issues, so he can be seen as five wins from six finishes, the only blemish being a second-place finish behind Lando Norris in Miami.
At the time we were not used to consistent McLaren challenges, but each race paid out the same 25 points to finish in first place, and Imola was the important score. After an impressive pole lap, Verstappen was cruising through the first part of the race, but Norris got back at him as the McLaren proved to be the stronger car on hard compound tyres.
At Imola in May, Verstappen’s car advantage was reduced, but he still took the win over Norris’ McLaren. Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Verstappen was unwavering and held off Norris to take the win, but if Norris had beaten him on that occasion going into this weekend, the gap between them would have been 48 points instead of 62. Or maybe it used to be 30 points. His incredible drive to win at Interlagos.
History will never unfold the same, of course, but there have been more instances of Verstappen holding off Norris (think Canada, Spain or Circuit of The Americas) or making sure he didn’t give up vital points in McLaren’s absence. A car to win.
Zandvoort and Singapore put Norris and McLaren in a different league to Verstappen and Red Bull, but second places in each race helped them protect their championship advantage, leaving Norris unable to afford a result like Brazil’s.
This is a very different way to win the championship compared to his previous three wins where Verstappen never faced multiple threats on a consistent basis. There have been times this year when he has had to fight his way through McLaren, Ferrari and even Mercedes providing a stern challenge, and he has turned this into an opportunity to defend his lead more often than not losing crucial points.
While his rivals often dominated in the second half, Verstappen kept his composure and delivered the finish they needed to get behind them. Mark Thompson/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
A year ago, Verstappen won his third successive title after a sprint race in Qatar. It was one of those unimaginably dominant championship finishes. He couldn’t celebrate in style with the Grand Prix the next day, and there was never a serious challenger to his throne.
This time the settings couldn’t be more different.
One Saturday night in Las Vegas, the stage was set for a party. Verstappen knew that simply beating Norris would be enough, and he also knew that he had no car to win the race.
Despite his aggressive nature, Verstappen sometimes doesn’t get enough credit for the way he approaches races he can’t win. Think of Zandvoort or Singapore, who barely offered a fight with Norris due to the McLaren’s much superior speed. On that track. He came in second in both, maximizing his profits and not doing anything to risk them.
Even on Saturday night, he played it safe at times knowing it would be enough. Norris was behind him and unable to pose a threat, so his defense was limited at best when Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz closed in.
Even if Charles Leclerc later dived inside Turn 14, Verstappen’s offer to cover that line was not met. Although he has shown many times in the past that he likes to control the peak and dictate what happens. The car outside of him.
It’s a time to celebrate a job well done. Mark Thompson/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen spoke of his relief that the championship was safe once they crossed that line, which was precisely the difficulty facing Red Bull this season. But it was Red Bull’s Helmut Marko who offered an insightful take on what makes this title in particular one that could take him beyond where he previously stood.
“He is definitely one of the greatest, because comparing periods is always difficult,” Marko said. “But don’t forget he’s 27 years old. He has grown unbelievably. Using his head when necessary, he showed Brazil who owns the game and is now a leader as well.
“It was known that there was a problem within our team, but we resolved it and came together by saying, ‘Goodbye, let’s work hard together and win.’
“That made it even more difficult. After the first race we were like, ‘Oh okay, we keep going like ’23 and then all of a sudden…’ I woke up too late. Because his brilliance did not reveal the car’s weaknesses.’
Las Vegas was a microcosm of almost all of Marko’s points, as Verstappen used his head to get the job done and secured a title that was actually at risk just two weeks ago.
It may be Red Bull who’s been up too late this season, but it might be Verstappen who’s likely to be up late in Las Vegas with a beer in hand as he engages the media in the early hours of Sunday morning. And he more than earned it.
