Timeline world title Max Verstappen: from a rough start to enormous dominance | formula 1

A soft spot for the world champion, immediately a failure in the first World Cup round. He complains all weekend about his ‘uncontrollable’ car that cannot be balanced. After 54 laps the gas pump falters. ,,Something so small can cost you the title…” laments Verstappen, who watches Ferrari fly.

In a race weekend disrupted by a rocket attack, Verstappen immediately puts things in order with a victory. The duels on the track with Charles Leclerc are so beautiful. After a long change at the top of the field, the Dutchman signed for recovery. ,,We had to be a bit smart with Drs, but we succeeded.”

Another failure for Verstappen. Due to a problem with the fuel system. Resigned, he sees Leclerc win and run to a lead of no less than 46 points. “Of course it’s a long season with 20 races to go, but at the moment I think I need 45 to have another chance, I’m that far behind,” he sighs. The world title feels very far away.

In the lion’s den, Verstappen suddenly turns the tables. In a rainy weekend in Emilia-Romagna, Verstappen wins everything. Qualifying, the sprint race and the grand prix. And his car, which had until then been labeled ‘way too heavy’, feels better. “It has become lighter and certainly not worse,” said Verstappen, who gives Ferrari a sensitive slap.

Third behind the Ferraris in qualifying, after a mistake in the last run and away is pole. ,,I can compensate a lot, but I’m not Jesus…” sighs Verstappen after qualifying. He grumbles and reprimands his pit crew, but fixes the messy run-up a day later with the win.

Judging by the numbers, the season is still very exciting, but with his third win in a row, Verstappen in Barcelona signs for a different reality. If Verstappen finishes, he wins. Although things are not going smoothly in Spain, where his drs falter and he has to fight for a long time with George Russell. However, if the engine of leader Leclerc dies, the Dutchman takes full advantage.

With some dominance on the RB18, Verstappen has a difficult weekend in his hometown, where Sergio Perez knows how to dance better through the wet starting circuit. The Mexican wins, Verstappen is third, but the big loser is home favorite Leclerc who is the fastest for a weekend but at the moment supreme is only fourth.

In Baku, Verstappen makes a clear statement by beating the man in form teammate Perez. Verstappen is the leader at Red Bull Racing, no one else, he proves with his victory. A painful failure by Leclerc is a windfall in the World Cup.

The bear is loose. Verstappen is driving another flawless weekend in Montreal and has now won five of the last six races. While Perez retires and Leclerc does not progress to fifth after a grid penalty, the Dutchman feels more dominant than ever. “This makes life a lot easier,” he concludes. “Last year my car was not as dominant as it is now.”

In Lewis Hamilton country, Verstappen is booed for a weekend and signs for a mediocre result. That has nothing to do with the reaction of the British public, but everything to do with his misfortune in the race disrupted by a crash of the Chinese Zhou. A flat tyre, broken bodywork, no pace. He is seventh, after a fight with Mick Schumacher. This way the World Cup damage is limited.

It seemed to be a big, Orange party on and around the Red Bull Ring. Many thousands of Dutch people had gone to Spielberg to support Verstappen. Their hero won qualifying and the sprint race and looked unbelievably dominant. But then he was suddenly passed by Leclerc three times on Sunday. And then the Dutch fans also caused a lot of nuisance. ,,A normal person would not behave in this way and knows that,’ said Verstappen.

An eventual smooth weekend at Paul Ricard, where Verstappen sees competitor Leclerc crash out of the race early on. The Monegask was faster, distanced himself from the Dutchman, but sees Verstappen running out of the pit box in the title fight.

A master class. Verstappen shows himself to be the complete driver, due to a grid penalty started from place 10. This is perhaps best expressed in a resolute call in advance. The world champion foresees little grip and changes his plan. It does not start on hard, but on soft tires. The strategy is right, his overtaking is excellent. Verstappen deals a sledgehammer blow.

Starting from P14 with a grid penalty and still winning, so dominant in Verstappen this season. Surviving the chaos in the opening round and then stomping. After twelve laps he is at the front, where he can start ‘managing’. ,,Max was from another planet today”, concludes Perez, who signs for a 1-2.

Another home party in Zandvoort, after the first victory of last year. Pole and then spend an afternoon fighting the strong Mercedes and surviving safety car situations. Supported by an orange army of 105,000 men, the brand new officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau records his fourth victory in a row. “I am proud to be a Dutchman.”

Win, win and win some more. It’s what Verstappen does. His fifth in a row and his eleventh of the season. They are thunderous personal bests for him. He puts himself on match point for the world title. And that with no less than six races to go.

First, not very realistic attempt at the title. Verstappen has to win anyway, but everything goes wrong. As if the team is under high voltage, there is a blunder in qualifying and the Limburger is unable to repair it in a tumultuous race. No man overboard, but Verstappen is pissed and insists on the importance of perfect weekends.

In a soaked Suzuka it doesn’t look like a serious race can be held for a long time, but if it does come, Verstappen won’t let grass grow. He sees Charles Leclerc getting smaller and smaller in his mirrors and rides unthreatened to victory. If his competitor receives a time penalty after the finish, and it becomes clear that full points are still being paid, Verstappen is again world champion. After last year’s titanic battle, with an insane apotheosis, dominance is the word of 2022. There is simply no size this year on the flawless and supreme Verstappen.