Max Verstappen is undoubtedly one of the best drivers in F1 at the moment. The way he eased past everyone to claim his third back-to-back F1 title in 2023 says a lot about his mentality. Now, as Max is basking in glory, his father, Jos Verstappen, has come ahead to reveal how the 26-year-old’s battles with Lewis Hamilton made his son a better driver.
Jos made a reference to the 2021 season in particular and said as per The Athletic, “Experience makes him (Max) better.” The three-time world champion indeed did have a rollercoaster of experiences in 2021.
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) December 9, 2023
From crashing out in Baku due to tire failure to winning the season finale in Abu Dhabi in arguably the most controversial of circumstances, there were many ups and downs that year that made Max more resilient. While the young Dutchman only won his maiden title in 2021, it did give him the impetus to take a step further and establish unprecedented dominance in the next couple of seasons.
In the past two campaigns, Max broke several records. Jos believes that the reason why Max had such a drastic rise in 2023 is because of how strong the RB19 was this year. However, Jos did admit that perhaps Max would not have won 10 consecutive races if he had the same car four years ago because it is the experience that has made his son better recently.
Max Verstappen and his mega rise in the last couple of seasons
Max Verstappen is the most successful F1 driver when it comes to stats in the last few years. Until 2020, the Dutchman had just 10 wins, and now, he stands with 54 wins. He is also third in the overall GP wins by a driver, only behind Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.
This is the perfect way to end our extraordinary season I’m extremely grateful for all of the hard work that’s gone into this year by each and everyone of you involved @redbullracing & @HondaRacingGLB To win 19 races in a season is just incredible It’s a privilege to be… pic.twitter.com/vOkhVPyD0k
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) November 26, 2023
This means he claimed a staggering 44 wins in just the last three seasons and among them, 34 came in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, he broke all the records after he snatched 19 wins out of 22 races in a single year.
As things stand, Max Verstappen and Red Bull are more likely to continue their dominance even in the next two years given how massively overpowered their package has been. However, there are doubts if the 26-year-old will be able to replicate his 2023 statistics given how Red Bull’s rivals are expected to close the gap.
