Max Verstappen, the trajectory towards the second F1 world champion[F1-Gate.com]

Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) retraces the process of winning his second F1 world champion.

It is said that the mark of a true champion is not to be champion, but to be champion multiple times, but Max Verstappen secured his second Drivers’ Championship in the 2022 F1 season with four races to go and delivered proof in style.

With this, Verstappen also holds the record for the driver to secure the title with at least four races to go, held only by Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.

Woe to start
The road to Max Verstappen’s second title was not easy. F1 entered a new era and the RB18 was ready, but at the start of the season the car was quick but erratic as the design returned to the ground effect era with heavily revised regulations.

In the opening round of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was plagued with brake problems and crashed after a battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc before suffering wheel problems after a pit stop and fuel system problem.

“After all, motorsport is unpredictable, so things like this can happen. Today is the first race and we still have a long way to go,” said Verstappen.

Despite the sudden damage, the Bahrain Grand Prix showed that the team had prepared well for the 2022 season.

upward
That preparation will lead to results at the Arabian Grand Prix a week later. Sergio Perez set the fastest lap in qualifying to take the coveted first pole of his career, while Max Verstappen finished fourth behind the Ferraris in qualifying, but the defending champions in the final race were another big success.

Max Verstappen is second behind Charles Leclerc while Sergio Perez is rejected by a bad safety car. And with less than 10 laps remaining, Verstappen was out of action. From here on, Verstappen is the best example of speed, and Verstappen plays a fierce battle with Leclerc for six laps and corners Leclerc. On lap 47, Verstappen closed on Leclerc again and passed him to take his first win of the season.

Max Verstappen of the upcoming Australian GP was tipped over again by an unstable car and retired after just 38 laps. Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, took his second victory of the season and finished with 71 points, 46 ahead of Verstappen. After the race, Verstappen said: “The gap to Charles is already widening. It won’t be easy to fix, so we have to work hard as a team.”

Sunday maximum
That hard work quickly paid off. The first sprint of the season took place at Round 4, the Emilia Romagna GP, where Max Verstappen and the team showed their best performance. Verstappen entered the 21-lap sprint in second place behind Leclerc, and passed Leclerc, who was suffering from tire degradation, to score 8 points and the final pole start.

And the final will be the same. After Max Verstappen builds a strong lead, when Charles Leclerc is once again plagued by tire degradation, Ferrari are betting on Leclerc to don the softs in an attempt to chase down Verstappen. However, Leclerc spun in an attempt to close Verstappen’s comfortable lead and finished the race in sixth place.

Max Verstappen followed Sergio Perez to take a solid win, giving the team a one-two finish for the first time since the Malaysian GP in the 2016 season. Leclerc still leads the drivers’ standings with 86 points, but Verstappen’s 59 points reduced the gap at only 27 points.

Weight saving
After victories in Miami, Spain, Azerbaijan and Canada, Max Verstappen won six of the first nine races to take a 46-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship. But Verstappen’s improved acclimatization level at RB18 wasn’t the only reason for such a comfortable lead. The team’s tireless pursuit of factory performance has led to the results.

F1 cars have in recent years gained weight as the seasons have gone on and Max Verstappen has repeatedly commented since the start of this season that the increased weight of the car was slowing the car down. The RB18 didn’t pick up speed in low speed corners and had a strong tendency to understeer. So I had to go on a diet.

Milton Keynes then concentrated on a lighter weight and stiffer front end, allowing Max Verstappen to turn the car easier by eliminating rear end rocking with superior car control.

Development racing throughout the season has long been a strong point of Oracle Red Bull Racing and updates have been introduced regularly this season, but the British Grand Prix saw one particularly big change. And while it may not be possible to confirm the effect from the results (Verstappen missed the British and Austrian GPs), the RB18 has gradually started to perform in Verstappen’s favor, and from the French GP onwards it has been overwhelming. time before winning the title.

Unstoppable
Since the Austrian GP, ​​Max Verstappen has won five in a row. The pace in qualifying remained uneven, with Verstappen only taking pole position in the Belgian and Dutch GPs since the Austrian GP, ​​but Max was unstoppable in the finale.

He finished 10 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at the French Grand Prix and won the Hungarian Grand Prix again ahead of Hamilton after starting from tenth on the grid due to technical problems in Q3. At the Belgian GP, ​​Verstappen was overwhelming and won from 14th on the grid. Championship leader Verstappen moved up six places on the opening lap of the race and took the lead after just 11 laps.

“It was like racing on rails,” commented Max Verstappen with a smile after the race. “I had the right timing to overtake, I was able to take care of my tires and after I got into the lead it was just a matter of managing everything well. The whole race weekend was fantastic.”

Winning the Belgian Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen 93 points clear of second-placed Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship, with team principal Christian Horner praising the driver’s drive for the title.

“Max has improved since winning the title last season. Winning the title freed him up and he’s driving great. Now Max is fully integrated with the car. I’m at the pinnacle of my career.”

overwhelming force
Max Verstappen scored another victory at the Italian and Japanese GPs to take his second drivers’ title. Verstappen’s first title came after a fierce rivalry and close battle for the lead. In that sense, the second title came in a very nice way, but at the same time it was a powerful display of all parts of his incredible skill set. In terms of pace, power, racecraft and race handling, Max was the best. Considering that the team is also demonstrating perfect functioning in all areas such as design, development, preparation and race tactics, his second crown is exceptional.

With 12 GP wins, 2 sprint victories, 14 podiums, 5 pole positions and 366 points with 4 races to go, Max Verstappen became a dominator and handsome second F1 world champion.

Category: F1 / Max Verstappen / Red Bull