3 races that Max Verstappen could have lost in 2023 F1 season

Max Verstappen dominated the 2023 F1 season. When it comes to breaking records, the driver broke plenty of them. The biggest of them arguably has to be the most wins in a season record, which he already held before 2023. The Dutchman won as many as 19 races this year and bettered the record of 15 wins he set last season.

When you look at a driver who has won almost every race of the season bar 3, it does paint a picture of invincibility around him. In many ways, Max Verstappen had an invincible run in 2023, but there were certainly a few races where there were possibilities that someone other than him could have won.

In this article, we will take a look at the three races that Max Verstappen could have lost in 2023 but ended up winning.

3 races that Max Verstappen could have lost in 2023

#1 Monaco

There are two key moments that one could argue where Max Verstappen could have possibly lost the race in Monaco. The first moment was the final lap in qualifying.

Unlike most races earlier in the season, Red Bull did not have a dominant advantage in qualifying. It can also be claimed that over a lap, the car was maybe not the outright fastest car, as it certainly had competition.

This was precisely why the pole position lap in the dying stages of the session was so special. If Verstappen had not extracted the absolute best from the car, then it could have easily gone the other way and he would have lost a pole position. Losing pole position and starting further down is just not the recipe to succeed at Monaco and could have handed the advantage to his competitors.

The second instance where the win was almost lost was when it started raining and Aston Martin ended up putting Fernando Alonso on the wrong tires and, hence, stopping twice. If that had not happened, there was a possibility that he could have jumped Verstappen and won.

#2 Las Vegas

The race in Las Vegas had a stroke of luck for Max Verstappen and if it wasn't for that, he would not have won the race. At the time the safety car came out, Verstappen was a decent distance behind Charles Leclerc, who had overtaken him on the track in the first stint.

The safety car meant it was an advantage for the Dutchman and Red Bull as the driver used his fresher tires to get ahead of both his teammate Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc and win the race comfortably. If it wasn't for that safety car, Leclerc might have won the race.

#3 Austin

Austin is arguably one race that Mercedes should have won, but the team never seemingly realized that it had the pace to battle and beat Red Bull. This was one race that Max Verstappen won due to his team's strategic excellence. The car was not in the best shape because of the bumpy nature of the track and the rivals Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris were snapping at his heels all the time.

If Verstappen had made a mistake here and there, he would have possibly lost the chance to win the race. Fortunately for him, he kept his head and took home the trophy.