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Max Verstappen is a two-time F1 world champion now, and he's done it with as many as four races to spare. He had 12 wins in 18 races, a comfortable 20+ seconds margin in his latest win. It could give you the impression that it was all smooth sailing for the Dutch driver, but the reality could not be further from it. There was a moment in the championship when it appeared that Ferrari and Charles Leclerc were going to run away with the title.
From then until the F1 Japanese GP, Red Bull and Verstappen clinched those crucial moments that helped him win his second F1 title. In this feature, we will be taking a look at these key moments.
#1 The comeback at Imola
At this stage in the championship, Max Verstappen was more than 40 points behind Charles Leclerc. He'd already had two DNFs in the first three races and Ferrari had smashed Red Bull in the Australian GP. After the race in Australia, Verstappen admitted that he wasn't looking at the title for now.
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From that point onwards, the comeback that the Red Bull driver scripted at Imola was phenomenal. Verstappen scored pole position for the Imola sprint. He pulled off a sensational overtake on Charles Leclerc to win the sprint and then cruised to a win in that race. He did not wipe out the entire deficit against Leclerc but made a huge dent in the championship points. It was also a statement of intent that he was not going down without a fight.
#2 The win in Miami
The win in Miami came immediately after Imola's win, but the context is missed by so many fans when they just look at the result. Even before the race on Sunday, Max Verstappen had seen himself get compromised in qualifying once again with a minor issue. Ferrari had sealed the front row, while Verstappen was going to start the race in P3.
After qualifying, Verstappen was quite vocal in his message to Red Bull. He emphasized that the team needed to be more precise in its operations and that these issues could not continue. In the race, Verstappen made short work of Carlos Sainz at the start and was able to overtake Leclerc later as well. The Red Bull driver demonstrated in this race that despite the unresolved issues of his team, he can still go toe-to-toe with Ferrari.
#3 Ferrari's power unit nightmare in Barcelona
There's no race that proved as pivotal as the race in Barcelona. Few people would remember that earlier in the season, Red Bull was considered to have a more unreliable PU. The team encountered multiple issues during the season, such that there was always a concern. It was the Spanish GP, however, that changed the narrative. Charles Leclerc was leading the race while Max Verstappen was frustrated and stuck behind George Russell due to DRS issues.
It was at this point that the Ferrari power unit for Charles Leclerc stopped working. An almost certain win was vanquished from him, and Verstappen took over the championship lead and never looked back.
The race in Barcelona turned the tide of the championship completely and left Ferrari exposed and vulnerable. As we all saw later in the season, they could never mount a comeback after this and went into a continued state of decline.
#4 Max Verstappen's win Paul Ricard (and Charles Leclerc's crash)
The crash at Paul Ricard was important in the context of the championship because, until that point, Ferrari had made the bigger blunders. Charles Leclerc was doing a tremendous job, but the team was letting him down with poor strategic calls and reliability issues. There was one spin by Charles in Imola that could have been avoided by the driver, but more or less, the blame lay with Ferrari.
For Max Verstappen, at this juncture in the championship, he was the better driver on the grid but he was not overwhelmingly better. The championship lead could have been attributed to Red Bull being the better team compared to Ferrari.
However, it all changed with Paul Ricard. Charles Leclerc was leading the race and while Max Verstappen triggered the undercut by pitting early, Ferrari didn't bite. Leclerc was going to continue running at the front, extending his lead while the Dutch driver tried to make the best use of his new tires in clear air. It was all poised to be a Titanic battle but it all came to a head when the Ferrari driver crashed out of the race and gifted a win to his rival. From this point on, Verstappen was clearly the better driver of the two and there was no argument left.
#5 The win in Hungary!
A lot is made of Max Verstappen's wins this season, but until we look at his starting position, we do not realize how difficult many of these wins have been. The Verstappen of old had a tendency to be a bit reckless in the way he raced. He took risks and was aggressive most of the time.
Until last season, there was a debate that the aggressive-natured Max Verstappen might not have been able to accomplish the kind of results that he can now. The race in Hungary, particularly the start, is the first true demonstration of how far the Red Bull driver has progressed since his first title.
The start of the race in the Hungarian GP did not see Max Verstappen sending it down the inside to gain as many positions as possible on turn 1. Contrary to that, he made sure that his nose was clean and that he did not have any clashes at the start of the race. From that point on, it was precise driving that saw him carve through the field and win the race.
It was this race that showed a new approach that helped him adapt to the reality of making his way through the field.
