3 reasons why Max Verstappen is unlikely to retain the title in F1 2022 season

Max Verstappen broke Lewis Hamilton’s streak in Abu Dhabi and became the F1 world champion for the first time in his career. In doing so, Verstappen also became the first Red Bull driver to win the title since Sebastian Vettel in 2013.

After beating seven-time world champion Hamilton, one would expect Verstappen to put together a run of multiple titles with Red Bull. It is, however, not so simple in Formula 1. In this piece, we look at three reasons Verstappen might not be able to retain the title in the F1 2021 season.

#1 Red Bull put too much emphasis on the F1 2021 season

After the kind of season Max Verstappen put together in 2021, it’s easy to expect the young Red Bull driver to replicate such a performance. Here, one must remember that to win a title in Formula 1, it’s not all about driving skills. One also needs the right tools to compete at the front of the grid. Tools that Max Verstappen did not possess in his career at Red Bull, until 2021.

The 2022 F1 regulations are a complete overhaul. This requires a dedicated team to work on the car to give the team a possible advantage. Red Bull, however, went all in on the 2021 season. The team was still bringing development parts late into the season while the rest of the grid had started work on their 2022 challengers.

This meant Red Bull lost crucial time preparing the 2021 car, instead of focusing on the 2022 car. In fact, teams like Ferrari and Mercedes were open about how any time lost on the development of the 2022 challenger could be catastrophic. The two teams, along with Alpine, and even Aston Martin, were some of the teams to switch focus to the 2022 regulations early. The teams are expected to have a headstart over others who allocated their resources to the 2022 regulations later. That will definitely play a role in Max Verstappen’s title defense next season.

#2 There will be an added spotlight on Max Verstappen’s driving style

Max Verstappen faced copious amounts of criticism for his aggressive driving in the late stages of the 2021 season. So much so that it led to Mercedes bringing a QC to Abu Dhabi in case an incident was to decide the title. Ironically, it was decided without involving Verstappen’s driving.

At the same time, it’s hard to deny that Verstappen did push the envelope a tad too much at times and that he went unpunished on occasions in 2021. It won’t be a surprise if the opposition and the stewards watch out for Verstappen to keep him in check and, if needed, penalize him.

Such a spotlight on one’s driving is never healthy. It would be hard for Verstappen not to let that affect him and eventually have an impact on how he goes racing. This could prove to be a distraction, negatively affecting Max Verstappen’s performance next season. As seen in the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Dutchman gave up pretty much after his rash driving resulted in a five-second penalty.

#3 Verstappen’s complacency could get the better of him

For some drivers, winning is like a drug. F1 great Ayrton Senna said that once you experience it, you keep searching for it all the time. For Max Verstappen, however, his craving for the drivers’ title could end here with his maiden win.

The Dutchman was quoted as saying in a BBC interview that bagging his first championship is the ultimate goal for him and beyond that, there’s not much to achieve in F1. It comes as a surprise that the first-time world champion does not display the ambition that other drivers have, after winning their maiden title. The hunger for further glory that former champions like Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, or even Lewis Hamilton, had shown, seemed absent in the 24-year-old.

Max Verstappen’s complacency was apparent when he claimed he had achieved everything in F1, and ‘everything coming next is just a bonus.’ With such an outlook, the Dutchman does not seem poised to even try for the 2022 title, much less win it.

So readArticle Continues below

So read: Who has won most F1 Championships?

Login to reply