After dominating last season, Max Verstappen continued his supremacy in the 2023 F1 season. So far the Red Bull driver has won 10 out of 12 races. However, none of the race wins has been a race to remember for Dutchman. Instead, the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku is the most special race for him.
The Baku race was the first Sprint race weekend of the season. Verstappen, who has usually been dominant throughout the season, looked a bit off-color in the entire three days of the race. From losing out the pole position to Charles Leclerc for the race to concluding the Sprint shootout in P3, the Red Bull driver struggled more than normal.
11 wins in a row for the team, what an amazing achievement @redbullracing đ This is an extraordinary job by everyone đ #KeepPushing
Thank you Silverstone đŹđ§ #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/JvY7dR54ij
â Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) July 9, 2023
During the Sprint race, the defending champion suffered significant sidepod damage which limited his run till P3. And during the race on Sunday, a mistimed pitstop cost him the race win. Therefore, Verstappen revealed that he learned important lessons in the race and astonishingly after that race his winning streak started.
Max Verstappen opened up on the important lesson he learned
Out of two races, Verstappen hasnât won this season, one has been the Azerbaijan GP race. Even though he hasnât won the race, it is still significant to the two-time world champion.
Speaking about why the Baku race is of supreme importance to him, the Red Bull star said to Viaplay Netherlands, âBecause even though we didnât win that race, we learned a lot. Maybe someone will say âBecause itâs the only thing that isnât betterâ but during that race, I learned a lot about how to set up the car.â
â Sence bu sezonun en önemli anı neydi?
đŹ Max Verstappen:
âBakĂŒ. ĂĂŒnkĂŒ o yarıĆı kazanamasak da çok Ćey öÄrendik. Belki birileri âdaha iyi olmayan tek Ćey bu olduÄu içinâ diyecektir ama o yarÄ±Ć sırasında, otomobilin nasıl kurulacaÄına dair çok Ćey öÄrendim.âđïž @viaplaysportnl pic.twitter.com/EBwLIqsuPF
â Eau Rouge (@eaurouge_ps) August 3, 2023
Admittedly, the 25-year-old complained about the control of his car on multiple occasions. Therefore, his statement regarding the setup might have worked out for him. No wonder why the two-time world champion has gone on a rampage following the Baku City Circuit race. Whereas Sergio Perez failed to compete against him even though he had the same car.
Verstappen on a record-breaking spree
Max Verstappen began unleashing his dominance from the very next race onwards. He came from P9 in Miami to win the race and that was just the start of his supremacy with the tailor-made RB-19.
From there on till the recently concluded Belgian GP, the 25-year-old was unstoppable as Mercedes, McLaren, Aston Martin, and Ferrari all failed to stop him.
Currently, the Red Bull driver is on eight back-to-back winning streak and two more wins will see him overtake Sebastian Vettelâs record. Furthermore, with the massive gap he has in the championship so far, Verstappen can easily wrap up the championship at this rate by the Qatar GP.