Three-time champion Max Verstappen has revealed how consistency has been the key to his recent success. The Dutchman obliterated the field in 2023 as he won a record 19 out of the 22 races. He managed to do so despite losing two out of the first four races to Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. Since there was a lot of hype about a possible title fight after the first four Grand Prix, Verstappen has now revealed what it takes to win the championship.
While speaking to Viaplay (as quoted by GP Blog), the Red Bull driver said, “You can certainly always believe in it yourself, but there are so many races during the season. Ultimately, to become a champion, you just always have to be very consistent, and you can hardly make any mistakes. That’s ultimately what the championship is won on“.
Verstappen made all his comments about the title fight Perez posed early on in the 2023 season as he explained how the Spanish and Mexican media had created hype about the same. “Certain media, maybe especially Mexican and Spanish-speaking media, they obviously hype that (title fight) up,” explained Verstappen.
Although some hoped that Perez could finally pose a challenge to Verstappen for the title, the 26-year-old ended all hope by throwing down the gauntlet after the first four races. Verstappen went on to win 17 of the last 18 races and managed to seal the championship a month before the season concluded.
However, the former Toro Rosso driver did admit that he had to be patient to achieve the same. The three-time champion revealed how he always knew that he would struggle in the first few races as those circuits did not suit him.
Increased maturity pays dividends for Max Verstappen
Although Sergio Perez managed to match Max Verstappen at the start of the 2023 season, the Dutchman knew that his time would come to build the gap. In the same interview with Viaplay, the 26-year-old revealed how Perez’s outstanding start to the campaign never “worried” him.
“At the beginning of the season, there are never really circuits that suit me perfectly. Those only come afterwards. The faster circuits with more fast corners. At that time I wasn’t worried at all either“, explained Verstappen.
It was indeed only the first few races where Verstappen seemed to struggle. Once the competition moved to Europe, no other driver even came close to matching the Dutchman.
The only race from that point on where the Red Bull champ suffered a setback was in Singapore. That also happened to be the only Grand Prix that Red Bull failed to win this year. Since the Milton Keynes outfit have been a class apart this year, Verstappen is also likely to dominate next season.
