The Verstappen era?
Max Verstappen’s performance in Belgium was one that will still be talked about twenty years from now. One that gives the competitors sleepless nights, that the fans will never forget and that heralds a new era.
Two-time world champion Max Verstappen. Get used to that, because the question is no longer if he will be, but in which of the remaining eight races of this season. There was really no size on Verstappen in the Belgian GP. He made his way from P14 to P1 at an unbelievable pace and then finished the race at a pace that made the rest of the field seem to be driving almost F2 cars.
The competition was therefore stunned afterwards. At Ferrari, they are in the thick of things. Team boss Mattia Binotto says he does not fully understand how Red Bull can be so fast. It doesn’t seem to be the track per se, because Verstappen already drove a beastly race from P10 to P1 in Hungary. A totally different kind of circuit than Spa. Fun fact: it is only the second time in Formula 1 history that a driver has won a race two races in a row from P10 or further back. The previous driver to do that was Bruce McLaren, more than 62 years ago.
Verstappen, who already appeared to be driving in a completely different race class in qualifying than the rest, now has nine victories in 2022. If he wins five of the eight upcoming races, he will have the record for the most wins in one season in hands. A record that seems within reach with this form. International media are already comparing the current form of Red Bull and Verstappen with other extremely dominant eras. It is reminiscent of the heyday of Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull, Michael Schumacher at Ferrari and of course more recently Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. The consensus is that a new era of dominance seems to be dawning. The Verstappen era. If that hasn’t been going on for a while: Verstappen has won 20 times in the past 37 races, finished second nine times and third once. In the remaining two races he completed, he finished seventh and ninth, both times with a car breakdown.
Getting the second title still seems like a mere formality, but I believe (with maybe a little orange glasses on) that you can also carefully dream about the third and perhaps even fourth title. The RB18 forms the basis for next year’s RB19 and with a bit of luck for Red Bull and Verstappen, the RB20 can still look very similar to it. As Ferrari and Mercedes struggle, Red Bull continues to fade from view, building on an already rock-solid concept. It is a team that doesn’t miss a beat and with a combination of flawless strategy, reliability and speed, it trumps all others. And behind the wheel is a man who is in the shape of his life and shows time and again that he can perform even better. Verstappen already belongs in an exceptional list of drivers, but is well on his way to becoming one of the greatest ever statistically.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl