By Alan Baldwin
DOHA (Reuters) – Max Verstappen’s third Formula One title season stands out for the Dutch driver’s domination and record run of 10 wins in a row, but one of his rare defeats was also key to his future success.
The following details key moments on his journey to clinching the title in Qatar on Saturday.
BAHRAIN
Verstappen won the season-opening race from pole position, in a one-two finish with team mate Sergio Perez, and the scene was set.
It was the first of a record run of 14 wins in a row for Red Bull in a single season, a sequence of 15 in total when the 2022 season-ender in Abu Dhabi is included.
Bahrain was also the first time Verstappen had won a season-opening race and a marked turnaround from 2022 where he retired and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won.
The victory ensured Verstappen maintained a lead in the championship dating back to the Spanish Grand Prix of May 2022 and that he has yet to relinquish. It will stand at 39 races by the end of this season.
AZERBAIJAN
A rare defeat to Perez, who also triumphed in the Saturday sprint, and a race Verstappen has since defined as key to his season.
The Red Bull pair departed Baku with two wins apiece and separated by just six points but Verstappen used the race to make some important discoveries about his car.
“I was trying a lot of different combinations on the wheel to just get a bit more of an understanding because it was still so early in the season and we were still not fully on top of things,” he said.
“Towards the end of the race I found my rhythm, I found my preferred balance and it helped to just find a little bit more of an edge…It’s not like I suddenly turned the car upside down but its just little details can make the difference.”
MIAMI
The May race started Verstappen’s record run of 10 wins in a row and was the beginning of the end for Perez’s hopes.
The Mexican had a chance to take the lead in the championship but instead suffered a huge psychological blow after starting on pole position while Verstappen lined up ninth.
Verstappen’s masterful tyre management allowed him to extend his lead while Perez finished second. His form then nose-dived with 16th in the following Monaco Grand Prix.
The Mexican did not stand on the podium again until he was third in Austria on July 2.
The win was the 38th of Verstappen’s career and tied him with four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel as winner of most races for Red Bull.
SPAIN
Verstappen chalked up his 40th career win after leading every practice session, starting on pole, setting the fastest lap and leading every lap in the third ‘Grand Slam’ of his career.
The race marked more than a year of leading the championship.
CANADA
Verstappen chalked up Red Bull’s 100th win in Formula One, from pole position, and equalled Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna’s career haul of 41 victories. He then beat that in the next race in Austria.
The race in Montreal also took Verstappen’s tally of successive laps led to more than 200, a run dating back to Miami and that was ended in Austria by Leclerc.
BRITAIN
The race at Silverstone saw Verstappen take a fifth pole in a row and Red Bull equal McLaren’s 1988 record of 11 successive wins in a single season. That milestone would be passed at the next race in Hungary.
NETHERLANDS
Verstappen won his home race to equal Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 record of nine wins in a row. That became 10 at the next race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
SINGAPORE
The run of Red Bull wins came to an end, and with it the team’s hopes of becoming the first in the modern era to go unbeaten through a season.
Verstappen started 11th and finished fifth. It was his worst result since the Brazilian Grand Prix of November 2022, when he was sixth.
The race was also the first since Russia in 2018 without a Red Bull in the final phase of qualifying.
JAPAN
Red Bull clinched the constructors’ championship for the sixth time and second in a row, making sure also of the double with Verstappen and Perez the only drivers still mathematically in contention for the title.
The win was the 48th of Verstappen’s career.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
