“This championship is gone,” Max Verstappen admits that he lost all his title hopes for 2022

“This championship is gone,” Max Verstappen admits that he lost all his title hopes for 2022

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen clenched the 2021 F1 World Championship in the most dramatic race possible, but things went his way. The start of the season promised a battle between Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Verstappen in the Red Bull for the championship this year after Mercedes failed to compete. But Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez did not have a good start at Bahrain after both the cars suffered engine failures and DNFd, scoring 0 points. The luck carried on for Verstappen in the Australian Grand Prix, after having to retire early from the race following even more engine and reliability issues in his RB18. 

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Although Verstappen had this unfortunate start to the season, he managed to win 5 out of the 8 races that have been held this season, and this made him climb on the top of the table of the championship, leaving Charles Leclerc behind. Although things seem to going his way as of now, the Dutch admitted that he had lost hopes of winning or being even competitive for the World Championship this year after the 2 DNFs at the very start of the season, as Leclerc was 46 points ahead of him, and the chances of him leading seemed to be very less.

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“It’s quite satisfying,” Max Verstappen upon leading the championship

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen on the Baku Podium

Verstappen stated that leading the championship feels quite satisfying, but at the same time, the team has to be focussed and cautious for any reliability issues in the car. 

“Maybe we have a good car, maybe we don’t. Then it seemed like we had a competitive car, so we can be in the fight for the championship. RacingNews365 quoted Max. 

“But then after retiring two times, and I was 46 points down, I was like, ‘This [Championship] is gone, this is not happening,’ or at least it will take a very long time to catch up.

“And then, basically in three races, as a team we turned it around and both of us are now up there.”

After amazing results and reliability from Red Bull and engine failures from Ferrari, Max Verstappen leads the World Championship with 150 points, ahead of Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc. Red Bull also lead the constructor’s championship with 279 points. 

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