Max Verstappen dominated the entire F1 grid like no other in 2022. Winning 15 out of 22 races is quite remarkable, considering it’s the ‘most wins in a year’ now is a massive indication of that.
He obliterated everyone else who came his way. Former F1 champion Nico Rosberg is among the top five F1 drivers of all time. A huge recognition, considering there have been several stalwarts in the sport.
Verstappen is still 25 and, under these conditions, is likely to succeed with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. With 35 race wins in his hands, he is undoubtedly a dominant figure in F1 right now, which should be feared.
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Max Verstappen talks about his most dominant win.
In 2022, he won most of his wins comprehensively. But there is one victory that he thinks is his most dominant win throughout the 2022 season: the Belgian Grand Prix, which he started from P14.
“We knew that we had to take a penalty, but I had a feeling that even starting 14th, I knew that if I get around [the first lap] without any damage, we were going to win the race, and that is very rare that you really believe that,” said Verstappen.
The Dutchman remarked how over the years, Red Bull was slow on the straights at the Spa Francochamps. This time, they trimmed down their downforce, and in the second sector, their car was ‘alive’ as, according to him, in that part, downforce is too low, so it allows drivers to be loose, and that helped his car.
Verstappen claims he could get a little more than the usual top speeds at Spa. These conditions indeed helped Verstappen to jump over 13 cars within 12 laps. Verstappen even asserts that he could have still won the race if he had made another pitstop.
Max Verstappen x RB18 | SPA, 2022 pic.twitter.com/3YP2vwKqzx
— Sarı Bayrak (@saribayrak) January 21, 2023
Extending the dominance
In 2023, Verstappen is stepping in as the title favourite, as his side marvellously managed to ace the last year’s regulations. Those are undoubtedly the most significant aero changes in a while and will give a bigger breathing room for Red Bull to have an edge.
Their rivals don’t believe the wind tunnel penalty they received for breaching the 2021 cost cap is enough to curb their dominance. However, they had the biggest challenge from Ferrari. Their pace last year doesn’t resonate with the point difference.
Head to head, the cars were at par, but other things marred Ferrari’s season, like unreliability and poor race strategies. But the voices from Maranello are reporting a one-second improvement in their 2023 car on the simulator compared to its 2022 predecessor F1-75.
If the projections are accurate, then Red Bull could face a significant challenge in defending their title. As the season approaches, the hype of the competition is getting intense.
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