Late on Saturday, while attempting a double pass on Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon at Turn 2, Red Bull driver Sergio Perez crashed out on Lap 10 of the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race. With the Mexican out, teammate Max Verstappen was assured of being crowned world champion for a third time even if he didn’t finish the sprint.
But Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase didn’t tell the Dutchman anything over the radio, wanting the 26-year-old to just focus on the nine laps left. It wasn’t as if Verstappen wouldn’t have known of the outcome as he would have surely noticed the other stricken Red Bull in the gravel trap at the Losail International Circuit, knowing that it was mathematically impossible for Perez – his nearest title challenger – to catch him.
But neither Lambiase nor Verstappen mentioned anything about the championship over the radio in the next nine laps. Instead, the focus was clearly on winning the sprint. Starting third, Verstappen had dropped down to fifth but his only target was to win. Even though Verstappen has won 13 of the 16 races yet this season, him not leading or winning was an anomaly, something he is never ready to accept until the chequered flag.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the sprint. Verstappen finished second, again an anomaly. Only this time, the Dutchman wasn’t upset, angry or disappointed at not winning, finally being congratulated by the team for winning the drivers’ world championship for the third year running.
His hunger – witnessed even when he knew he had already his target of winning the championship – for wins is something that drives him and quite clearly sets him apart. The Red Bull driver’s appetite for fastest laps, wins, championships is what makes him one of the greats of the sport.
Speaking to Sky Sports amid the celebrations on Saturday, an emotional Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal, was full of praise for the “phenomenal” Verstappen, saying he now rubs shoulders with some of the “great names” in Formula 1 history.
“It’s been by far the most dominant [season Red Bull have had], so it’s come as no surprise, but to see Max join some of the great names that I talked about earlier, [Jack] Brabham, [Ayrton] Senna, [Niki] Lauda, Sir Jackie Stewart. He is in that bracket now,” said Horner.
“The way he has driven this year has just been out of this world. You have to take a moment to reflect, [you] have to be in the moment. Everything he has done this year has been phenomenal.
Verstappen’s third title puts him at the same pedestal as Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna with only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel ahead.
No one ever doubted the talent of Verstappen, son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. In fact, it was his talent that propelled him to a Toro Rosso seat at the tender age of 17 years and 166 days at the 2015 Australia Grand Prix, making him the youngest driver to start an F1 race.
His knack to go fast made Horner put Verstappen into the senior team in a controversial move that drew a lot of criticism. But the Dutchman proved everyone wrong when he unexpectedly won his first race in the new team at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, keeping behind a rampaging Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari to become the youngest winner in F1 aged only 18 years and 228 days.
The ability to be at one with the car and the belief in himself behind the wheel is something that has made ‘Mad Max’ (as once former world champion Nico Rosberg once put it) completely stand out, surpassing many a talent the F1 world has seen.
Verstappen is all about racing. While other F1 drivers spend time with their family, go on holidays, spend time with wives or girlfriends during the off season, Verstappen is busy in virtual racing. Not the fastest in the virtual world, the Dutchman also wants to win races on the computer. Not just that, Verstappen has admitted that simulator racing has also helped him as a real race car driver.
Currently, Verstappen has 407 points, almost double of his nearest competitor Perez (223). While Perez showed his urge to challenge at the start of the season by winning two races, he soon realised that it takes more than just great driving on two Sundays.
“Max has done a tremendous job and he worked really hard for this. The way Max has driven this year has to be one of the best championship seasons in the history of the sport, he has driven at a different level. He has been outstanding, and he deserves all the success and credit he gets,” said Perez.
After Verstappen famously, or infamously, beat Lewis Hamilton in 2021, the 2022 and 2023 seasons have been all about the Dutchman. It is true that he has had the fastest car, but the same machine is also available to Perez, who has been beaten comprehensively by Verstappen. And the Mexican is no newbie but an experienced hand who has impressed the Red Bull management who are notorious for changing drivers mid-season.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to be a three-time world champion. We’ve had a lot of great results in tough conditions, but we did an incredible job. It’s been a fantastic year and the team have been working tirelessly throughout the whole year. For now, I’m just enjoying the moment and hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a while, you know we’ll keep on pushing and trying to do the best we can,” said Verstappen.