Verstappen is currently the measure of all things in the premier class of motorsport. The Dutchman celebrated his third win in a row. The lead in the World Championship standings over teammate Sergio Perez grew to 93 points, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is already 98 points behind. In total, Verstappen has already had nine wins this season. The record for victories in a World Cup year is held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel with 13 each. With eight Grands Prix still to come, this record is ripe to be broken.
At the home game in Zandvoort at the weekend, Verstappen beckons the next step towards the record. In any case, the competition hardly doubts it. “I don’t think there will be a few miracles next week that we’re very close to Red Bull,” said Leclerc, third in the World Cup. The defending champion is currently on the road “as if from another planet”, said teammate Carlos Sainz.
Verstappen confidently on course for the title
After his ninth win of the season, the current world champion Max Verstappen is almost inexorably racing towards title number two. With eight races to go, one or the other record is still within reach in addition to the World Championship crown.
The gala in the Ardennes also received praise from within its own ranks. “The ease with which he is currently performing these services is unlikely,” said Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko. The British “Daily Mail” observed “a unilateral annihilation” of the opposition in Spa. The Sun wrote: “Now let’s present the trophy. There’s no point in dragging things out and waiting for the end of the season. Max Verstappen has (the World Championship) in the bag – and we still have eight races ahead of us.”
“Huge work behind the scenes”
In the first few months of the season, Ferrari usually had the best car, but lost success due to sometimes hair-raising breakdowns and mistakes. In the first race after the summer break, Red Bull’s “Scuderia” was outclassed. Although Sainz was third, he was 26 seconds behind. Leclerc was more than a minute behind in sixth. “Obviously that’s a big gap. We just have to try to improve,” said team boss Mattia Binotto – bleak prospects for the emotional home race in Monza in just under two weeks.
In the dunes of Zandvoort it will get tighter again, Verstappen suspected. But hardly anyone believes in view of the playful dominance of the 24-year-old in Belgium. Above all, the combination of Verstappen’s talent and the superiority of the Red Bull car makes the competition look old. “This is the result of a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes. There are many unsung heroes at the Milton Keynes plant and they all make a difference,” said Team Principal Christian Horner.
Verstappen remains calm
But the most important piece in the puzzle of success remains Verstappen. How impressively he plowed through the field in Spa was reminiscent of the gala drives of the greatest Formula 1 drivers in history in his merciless one-sidedness. In order to increase the tension again in the future, the challengers around Ferrari and Mercedes should quickly find a technical antidote, otherwise Verstappen will counteract a long series of titles.
The Dutchman himself takes note of his superiority quite coolly. “I’m enjoying it today, then I’ll go home and don’t think so much about Formula 1. And on Thursday I’ll jump on the plane and then I’ll think about Zandvoort,” said Verstappen. However, the omens for the next party in orange are favourable.
