Max Verstappen became Formula 1 champion ahead of schedule

Max Verstappen ahead of schedule, six races before the end of the Formula 1 championship, became the world champion. For the Red Bull leader, this is already the third title in his career. It is noteworthy that the Dutchman won the tournament without even participating in the main race of the Bahrain Grand Prix. It will take place on Sunday, and Verstappen achieved the result he needed already during the Saturday sprint.

The inevitability of Max Verstappen obtaining another, already the third championship title in his career, has not been in doubt for a long time. Of the 16 races that took place in the season, he won 13, along the way achieving a streak of 10 victories in a row (an achievement previously unmatched by anyone). As a result, after the Japanese Grand Prix, which took place two weeks ago, the gap between the number one Red Bull and his teammate and the only one who had a theoretical chance of overtaking him, Sergio Perez, reached 177 points. This meant that Verstappen was almost 100% likely to win the title in Bahrain. The only question was whether he would do it on Saturday in the sprint or postpone winning the championship until the main race on Sunday.

Max Verstappen did not postpone anything. He did not win the sprint, finishing only second, finishing behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri (third was another British team driver, Lando Norris), although if the race had lasted a couple of laps longer or at least not been interrupted by the safety car, the Dutchman would probably have finished first . But all this could not affect his position in the championship. On the 12th lap, Perez was involved in an accident involving Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), dropped out of the race and could no longer interfere with Verstappen.

Thus, Max Verstappen officially became a three-time world champion six stages before the end of the championship. He is also the first person to win a title based on the results of a sprint.

Well, he is only the fifth driver who can boast of winning three championships in a row. Previously, Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton achieved such success.

Let us note that Verstappen’s own reaction to what happened was quite calm. He said words of gratitude to the team, called everyone well done and so on, but in general the intensity of emotions did not go beyond what happens after ordinary, easy victories. All this is not surprising, considering that for two years now Max Verstappen has actually been performing in a league of his own. After all, the 2022 championship, unlike the 2021 championship, in which Verstappen snatched victory from Hamilton only on the last lap of the last race of the season (and even then, as many rightly believe, thanks to the strange decisions of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix directorate), also passed with his complete dominance.

Now that both the world champion and the winner of the constructors’ championship have been determined (Red Bull won it back in Japan), there is, by and large, only one intrigue left in the championship: will Sergio Perez be able to retain second place in the overall standings. After Saturday’s misfire, his lead over Lewis Hamilton is just 29 points.

Arnold Kabanov