Max Verstappen is already a world champion. He has already claimed the driver’s title for a third time in a row.
What’s more?
The only man on the current F1 grid who stood up to curb the menacing form of a certain Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen has risen like there are no pauses or kerbs in the topsy-turvy world of Formula 1. And frankly, only the opposite is true for a driver who has three world championships to his name and on the trot.
In a race where let’s face it, Verstappen hardly had any extra motivation to win, having already won the 2023 Driver’s world championship, the Flying Dutchman flew away with a victory at the recent Qatar Grand Prix.
The RB 19 makes it look like a child’s play when in reality it could be so much harder. In what became his maiden win at one of F1’s newest destinations, Verstappen led nearly every single lap, assaulted the remainder of the grid with brutal pace and showed, yet again, just what is meant by the marauding pace of the RB19.
While the two McLaren drivers- Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris- kept up the charge of the papaya-liveried cars, it wasn’t going to be enough, truly speaking, to contain Max’s bull run at the Lusail international circuit.
Some wins occur by the barest of margins. Then, some wins separate the first and the second by a distance hardly noticeable; say half a second. This was Max Verstappen winning his maiden Qatar Grand Prix of 2023 by nearly 5 seconds ahead of Piastri’s McLaren.
However, was race pace the sole factor behind the Red Bull driver’s marauding charge to victory at Qatar?
Only the contrary could be anywhere near the truth. Demonstrating excellent race pace management whilst maintaining a visible- if not, precautionary- gap to the next man on the grid, Verstappen at Qatar was an understudy in focus and boundless concentration.
At a time where they say only backbreaking speeds determine the fortune of racing stars, one is glad that in Max Verstappen- F1 itself has found a synonym for speed.
The days of Kimi and Alonso going wheel to wheel over a sharp turn just at the end of a sausage kerb are over; the modern F1 driver understands the complexity of the sport could well be about containing the menacing form of a driver as gifted as Leclerc or Perez.
Moreover, the modern F1 fan understands that races aren’t won based on a podium finish. That’s the truth. And yet, there’s still much that plays itself out to the indifference created by pushy media narratives.
For instance, Verstappen was constantly portrayed as the guy in the wrong in the 2021 season end. That’s when he didn’t put a gun on Michael Masi’s head to hand him the title.
It would be a fool’s errand to think that Verstappen, given his relentlessness to win yet more races, would drop his guard.
The only real contest, if there’s such a thing nowadays for Red Bull, came courtesy of the great race pace of McLaren. But even the two papaya liveried cars- Piastri and Norris claiming sensational podiums- were hardly much of a threat to Verstappen; towards the end of the 57-lap contest, Norris and Piastri were stuck to their battles to cross the checkered flag in the pursuit of the podium finishes.
Not a bad race at all for McLaren who now has a serious advantage over Aston Martin in the battle for Constructors’ championship.
The previous race too, held at Japan’s Suzuka, saw the two McLaren drivers on the podium; however, the order was different back then as Norris usurped Piastri to take second (despite the rookie Aussie having begun from second on the grid).
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso, who began fourth on the grid, ended up sixth. The race pace of his green machine was not being much of a threat to thwart the advances of the MCL60.
In what was an off day for Ferrari, Leclerc, the only red car that could score points, bagged a very respectable but docile P5 right behind the Mercedes of George Russell.
But just how heartbreaking might it all have been for Carlos Sainz, who due to a fuel system issue with his SF23, didn’t even start the Qatar GP of 2023?
It’s worthwhile to remember that it’s thanks to the Spaniard that Ferrari has managed their only win of the season. The Singapore GP perhaps proves a valid point that Verstappen is beatable and the two racier machines McLaren and Mercedes can be bettered on race pace.
That said, the man who sustained the biggest loss at the Qatar GP was a seven-time world champion and the winner of its debut event in 2021: Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Challenging his younger Mercedes teammate for a move to gain track position inside the opening lap, Hamilton, who approached a sharp high-speed corner came from behind Russell to make the move work; alas succeeding only in incurring damage on his car and that of his teammates as the two Mercedes drivers came to blows.
One wonders, whether the recent skirmish would be covered by Drive To Survive on Netflix and what might Toto’s reaction to it seem like?
That said, Esteban Ocon, who’s endured a nightmare season this year, was able to secure a fighting seventh; an important race finish especially when you consider how low he’s been hanging on the grid ever since the brilliant Monaco podium.
Bottas, Guanyu and Perez, meanwhile, had to settle with eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively. An important race for the Chinese Alfa Romeo driver in that he equalled his best race finish of this year having scored a ninth at previous events in Australia and Spain.
Perez, though, who had anything but a memorable qualifying a day earlier on Saturday had some recovery in the end but one wonders if that would impress anyone in the Red Bull contingent; the talented Mexican having already been subjected to taunts and whatnot by the unapologetic Helmut Marko.
However, the action right at the front of the grid was far more peaceful and less dramatic than these battles for vital points’ position towards the midfield as Max Verstappen, yet again, emerged in a class of his own.
The 26-year-old who is the most successful Dutch driver in the top echelons of Motor Racing now has 49 race wins to his name from exactly 180 race starts. Doing simple schoolboy math suggests that he’s been a winner in every 3.5 occasions where an F1 Grand Prix is held.
Not a stat the Silver Arrows’ fans would like but certainly one that would swell the hearts of Red Bull fans with pride. Having one 14 of the 17 races held this year, it’s been a year where there has not been much of a struggle for Max Verstappen, the fact being that he’s been a great struggle for the rest on the grid.
Talk of dominance in the world of F1, they said and there we go, it’s right here amid the twenty cars and ten teams; as one dismantles the rest pretty much every single weekend.
