Jos Verstappen must be a very proud father, having witnessed his son win his second Formula 1 World Championship title in as many years, and hopes that this is just the beginning for Max.
Already, at 25-years of age, not only does Verstappen junior have the abovementioned F1 titles on his CV, it also boasts a hugely impressive 75 podiums in 160 Grand Prix starts he has made in F1, 33 times he was the winner. And, one could argue, he is only just getting started.
This year Verstappen's fighter instinct has been a revelation this year, first, victory from tenth on the grid in Hungary, then 14th to first in Belgium and on Sunday, at the United States Grand Prix.
The Red Bull ace blitzed into the lead from pole position, unstoppable as he inched ahead with every lap - he certainly didn't dominate that day - building a cushion to those chasing.
Thereafter he had the restarts covered, during a race of high attrition and drama aplenty, but his final pitstop was totally out of character for the normally faultless and lightning-quick RBR crew.
But this time dropped the ball badly, Ferrari-style fumbling, taking an age to service the #1 car, giving their driver a mountain of work to do in the closing stages of the race.
And he did the graft, reeling in an up-for-a-fight Lewis Hamilton, the Red Bull pouncing with a handful of laps remaining, taking the lead from a Mercedes powerless to fight this year's benchmark combo from taking their 13th victory of the season together.
And, with it, Red Bull sealing the 2022 F1 constructors' championship title, their first since 2013 and halting a mighty eight-year streak of Mercedes dominance, but Sunday's win for Max almost nearly never was.
Verstappen: When you win thirteen races in a season, that is extreme
Jos told Viaplay after the race at Circuit of the Americas: "We did it the hard way. I knew he would never give up. After the pitstop it looked very difficult for a moment, but then he came into a swing.
"Of course, he can push very hard immediately, but then the tyres will not survive to the end, so he had to build it up. At a certain point he was ready for it, and we saw what happened.”
As for his son's remarkable 2022 thus far, Verstappen senior said: "It will not get much better than it was in this season. When you win thirteen races in a season, that is extreme. We still have three races to go, so that is great to see.
"Especially for the team. They have worked incredibly hard for this. It was such a tough weekend for them, and this is the perfect result. I hope this is just the beginning," added Jos.
On Sunday in Texas, Verstappen equalled the record for race wins in a F1 season, and with it he claimed his 13th win of the year, to match Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s record.
PA news agency looks back at Verstappen's 2022 F1 season of dominance
His first chance to break the record outright comes in race 20 in Mexico this weekend and with Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi also to come, he can still get anywhere up to 16 wins this season.
It is notable that he has achieved it with far fewer pole positions than either Vettel or Schumacher, who had nine and eight respectively compared to Verstappen’s five this campaign.
As it stands, Verstappen has won 68.2 per cent of races this season, a mark that would rank equal-fourth all time with Vettel. Should he win all three remaining races to make it 16 out of 22, that 72.7 per cent figure would lift him to second.
Alberto Ascari won six out of eight in 1952 for a record 75 per cent win rate, while Schumacher’s 13 out of 18 equates to 72.2. Jim Clark had the only other 70 per cent season with seven wins out of 10 in 1963.
Verstappen had already wrapped up the title ahead of going to America, with four races to spare.
Only Schumacher in 2002 and Nigel Mansell in 1992 had sealed the deal earlier, with Verstappen joining two more Schumacher campaigns and one from Vettel to share third place on that list.
Schumacher holds the record of five straight F1 titles
The Dutchman is on course for only the fourth three-figure winning margin in F1 – even second-place finishes behind nearest challenger Charles Leclerc in the three remaining grands prix and the Sao Paulo sprint race would secure that honour.
The different scoring systems over time obviously play a part in that, with the previous three belonging to Vettel (155 points in 2013 and 122 in 2011) and Hamilton (124 points in 2020).
A fairer comparison is the percentage lead and while Verstappen, currently with over 46 per cent more points than Leclerc, has fallen behind record pace, by that measure his is still among the most dominant seasons ever.
Mansell, and Jacques Villeneuve five years later, won with just over 48 per cent more points than their nearest challengers. Schumacher twice exceeded Verstappen’s current margin and Jackie Stewart and Juan Manuel Fangio also exceeded a 40 per cent winning margin twice each.
Verstappen is only the 11th driver to win back-to-back titles and another win next season would make him only the fifth to win three in a row.
Schumacher holds the record of five straight titles, between 2000 and 2004, while Fangio, Vettel and Lewis Hamilton all won four in a row.
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