Max Verstappen is cruising toward his third consecutive F1 championship with just three points away from sealing it. After dominating the 2023 season with 13 wins out of 16 races so far, the Dutchman just needs to finish sixth or higher in the Qatar Grand Prix sprint to win the championship. Most of the 25-year-old‘s domination began this season immediately after he lost to Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
At the end of the race in Baku, both Verstappen and Perez had won two races each. Since the Mexican was going toe to toe with his teammate, he claimed that he was looking to win the title this season. However, this claim seemingly did not go down well with Verstappen, who wanted to leave a marker of his own.
Ever since Verstappen lost the race in Baku, he has been unstoppable. The two-time champion has won 11 of the past 12 races and has also scripted a unique record to his name in the process. Earlier, Sebastian Vettel held the record for the most number of wins in a row (9).
Pole for the race on Sunday 🤝 A great start to the weekend @redbullracing 🚀
Full focus to the job at hand tomorrow 💪 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/9RNcoiAizq
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) October 6, 2023
However, with Verstappen winning every race from the Miami GP to the Italian GP, he beat the German’s record as he registered 10 consecutive victories. His winning streak only came to an end in Singapore last month when Carlos Sainz and Ferrari won their first race this season.
Verstappen reached another level after losing to Perez at Baku
Max Verstappen has been unstoppable after the race in Baku, as barring the race in Singapore, no driver has come close to beating him. Since the loss in Baku was the turning point for the Dutchman, veteran journalist Erik van Haren has claimed that the 25-year-old wanted to prove a point to Sergio Perez and the rest of the field.
“Verstappen won’t say it himself, but the way Pérez and his surroundings spoke about a possible title fight in the early stages of the season only motivated him more. Given his confidence, the Dutchman never felt threatened by his teammate, and the on-track performances speak for themselves,” explained Haren (as quoted by De Telegraaf).
While Varen has claimed that Baku was the turning point for Verstappen, the Red Bull driver himself has spoken about the same. The two-time champion explained how this defeat resulted in him evaluating where he was making mistakes and helped him to come back stronger in the races ahead.
Max Verstappen credits Baku loss as a turning point in his season
Even though Max Verstappen lost the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, he believes that it was his best race of the season. The Dutchman believes that it was this race that helped him understand where he was making mistakes and how he could best understand how to set up the car for himself.
“Because even though we didn’t win that race, we learned a lot. Maybe someone will say ‘Because it’s the only thing that isn’t better’ but during that race, I learned a lot about how to set up the car,” said the Dutchman in an interview with Viaplay Netherlands.
Ever since Verstappen lost that race, he has been in a league of his own. His only loss since Baku came in Singapore, a circuit where Red Bull had admitted even before the Grand Prix that they expected to struggle at this event. He finished fifth in the race, which is also his worst finish this season. In all the other races he has either won or finished second.
