Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has a 63 point lead over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship Standings.
Verstappen was part of an intense World Title battle with Lewis Hamilton last season. They were at each other’s throats throughout the year, and went into the final race of the season level on points.
After a dramatic end, and a heartbreaking finish for Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen went home as the first Dutch F1 World Champion ever. He admitted after his win that his life’s goal was complete, and winning any more Titles would just be an added bonus.
2022 has also been really good for Verstappen so far. The Red Bull driver went off to a rocky start with reliability issues forcing two retirements in the first three races. Since then, the tides have turned in his favor and it has been his Title rival for this year Charles Leclerc who has had rotten luck.
Verstappen now leads Leclerc by 63 points and is favorite to win the Championship.
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Max Verstappen is not looking at his lead over Charles Leclerc
Verstappen was criticized heavily last season, for being ultra-aggressive during his duels with Hamilton. A major reason behind that was his desire to give it a hundred percent in his bid to win his first Title.
Now that Verstappen has achieved that, he approaches races with a calmer mindset. This was highlighted by Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko in an interview earlier this year.
Ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian GP, F1 commentator David Croft asked Verstappen about his lead over Leclerc. His question for the Dutchman was whether he felt comfortable with this huge cushion heading into the second half of the season.
“I think if you know me,” Verstappen replied. “First of all, I wouldn’t be laying on the beach. And second of all, I also don’t really care about the points gap. Because for me, it’s all about trying to be perfect every single weekend.”
Verstappen will be vary of the Ferrari threat for Sunday’s outing. Leclerc and his teammate Carlos Sainz looked much stronger than the Red Bull duo during Friday’s practice sessions.
