Max Verstappen received a plethora of plaudits for his performances during the 2022 F1 Belgian GP weekend from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
The reigning world champion appears to have picked up at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps where he left off before the summer break started. Despite being one of six drivers to take on a raft of grid penalties that come with changing Power Unit (PU) components, the Dutchman has dominated the timing charts thus far and is looking like he can deliver a good result on race day.
Verstappen was the fastest driver during Saturday’s qualifying sessions but will start in P15, ahead of all the other drivers with grid penalties. He was over half a second ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who will start the race on pole, and nearly two seconds ahead of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner could not praise the reigning world champion enough after the sessions. Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, the 48-year-old said:
“Unbelievable, I mean the pace that he had, the lap time was so good that he didn’t need to do the second run so we saved the engine mileage. A phenomenal performance and also Q2 on that scrub set of tires the lap time he did, he has been on fire this weekend so a hard fight for P15 but at least it is not last.”
The Briton claimed to be expecting a brilliant race tomorrow, saying:
“Psychologically it is always nice to get out of the car after the first run in Q3 and know you have done enough but of course it is all about tomorrow. Starting in the middle of the pack there is always risk associated with that, but we are set for a brilliant race tomorrow with Max and Charles fighting their way through the field then Checo perfectly poised to take on Carlos at the front as well. There is going to be a lot to keep on top of tomorrow.”
“The championship’s heading his way” – Max Verstappen on course to defend his world title, according to F1 pundit
Max Verstappen has all the ingredients needed to be the perfect racing driver and is on track to claim his second world title this year, as per Marc Priestley.
Priestley is a former F1 mechanic who was part of the McLaren team for a decade. He was also in the garage when Lewis Hamilton claimed his maiden world title in 2008. The engineer left McLaren in 2009 and has since been an F1 pundit and presenter.
The Dutchman was in hot form in 2021 and managed to raise his level even further this year with eight wins in 13 races so far. He has also won both sprint rounds and has been on the podium 10 times in total.
According to Priestley, these impressive performances from Max Verstappen are down to him pairing his newfound maturity with his raw youthful approach to racing. Speaking on an episode of the BBC’s Checkered Flag podcast, the Briton said:
“I think racing drivers kind of hit their sweet spot when they are just on the brink of that youthful exuberance when they’ve got the ‘elbows out’ mentality. We know Max Verstappen’s had that in the early part of his career but now he’s got experience to go with it, he’s got a bit of maturity to go with it. That sweet spot comes right in the middle and that’s where we find Max Verstappen. The championship’s heading his way, almost no doubt about that now, and he thoroughly deserves it.”
As we approach the 2022 F1 Belgian GP, Max Verstappen holds an 80-point lead over Charles Leclerc at the top of the World Drivers’ Championship standings. Should he win six more races this year, the 24-year-old will set a new record for most wins in a single campaign.
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