Max Verstappen won the 2022 world championship in the most dominant way possible. Winning 15 out of the 22 races in the season, nothing could have stopped the Dutchman.
However, before he went on a rampage and continued to win races one after the another, winning over five times more races than his closest rival could achieve, he didn’t have the best of the starts.
Max Verstappen had 17 podiums in 2022, a tally that has only ever been beaten once before—by himself in 2021.
— PILAR🦁 (@F1pilar) December 2, 2022
The two-time world champion saw reliability issues with his car. Though there was enough pace to win, a few technical issues spoiled their initial races. Thus, allowing Charles Leclerc and Ferrari to have a comprehensive lead in the first few rounds.
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Max Verstappen thought he could lose the 2022 championship
Leclerc won two of the first three races of the season. Meanwhile, Verstappen had retired in one of them, giving a huge advantage to the Monegasque, and at that point, Verstappen thought he might be out of the championship contention.
“We had a pretty terrible start to the year, so at the time I thought we would not be able to really fight for the championship,” Verstappen said. “But then things really turned very quickly, and also from our side the car became ever more competitive.”
Indeed things turned quickly. After the first three races, Verstappen won five races over the next two months. The trend continued, and he didn’t even spare the races that happened after he cemented his championship, including the last race of the season, which he won in Abu Dhabi.
What lies ahead for him?
In the 2023 season, Verstappen would again enter as the season’s favourite. Red Bull has never been this strong since its last domination during its 2010-2013 era. However, with cost cap regulations in place, there are some preventive measures to restrict their winning spree.
Ferrari still has a strong engine, and working on their reliability is a concern, but surely, they will be challenging Red Bull. Mercedes had a poor year in 2022, but they seem to be working around their shortcomings and are expected to be at their usual self next year.
So the first few races of the season could give some exciting spectacles. It’s been a long time since F1 has been a three-way contest. Next year it could be if things go right.
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