‘Very surprising to have this much of a lead’: Max Verstappen surprised at how Ferrari were unable to keep up with Red Bull
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Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen wrapped up his second world championship in Japan and currently sits 113 points ahead of his new closest rival, teammate Sergio Perez. That is quite a turnaround from Australia, after which he had been 46 points behind Charles Leclerc. But that was due to mechanical failures. It’s fair to say that Verstappen has dominated since Imola, as his issues subsided.
And what a run it has been. Of the 15 races since Imola, the Dutchman has won 11 since then. His teammate is the next closest, with 2 wins to his name. Leclerc, who led the championship in Imola has only won one race since that, and even that was more than four months ago. Carlos Sainz rounds off the victory tally with his triumph in Silverstone.
Fans were taken aback by how quickly the championship ran away from Ferrari. Indeed, Leclerc’s aforementioned 46-point gap evaporated in barely 4 races, and after Monaco, he was behind Verstappen, never to lead the championship again. Even Verstappen admitted to being surprised by how the season went.
Also Read: Helmut Marko discusses the ‘unhealthy’ Max Verstappen-Carlos Sainz relationship at Toro Rosso
Max Verstappen: ‘Hopefully we can have [a close battle] next year’
Max Verstappen retired twice in the first three races, which was certainly frustrating. But he was surprised how they completely dominated the championship from that point on. As per Racer, Verstappen said: “At the time, you’re also just really upset with the situation. But just looking at how the whole season was going in terms of how close the cars were, yeah it’s very surprising to have this much of a lead.”
While 2022 was a dominant year, he wouldn’t mind a close battle next year: “But when you look at what happened during the races you can understand. So I’m in a way pleased that it was like that, but of course, in another way you do like having a close battle. But hopefully we can have that then next year.”
The races were indeed ‘eventful’. Ferrari made a lot of mistakes, which, more than any performance gap, largely contributed to their deficit to Red Bull. Soon, he realised he was going to win: “There were a few moments where I thought we have a good chance of winning it. But I think the moment where I thought now we are going to win it was I think after Paul Ricard [France], where the lead increased by quite a bit.”
Charles Leclerc had been leading the race, but instead of it being Ferrari who made the error, this time it was him. He retired after crashing out from the lead, unforced, when he had been pushing, presumably to get out of the undercut range of Verstappen. But it almost conclusively ended his chances of winning the championship.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)