Max Verstappen's third Formula 1 title season stands out for the Red Bull driver's domination and record run of 10 wins in a row, but one or two of his rare defeats were also key to the Dutchman's immense success.
On Saturday, Verstappen joined an illustrious 'club' of F1 legends, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Jack Brabham and Jackie Stewart - all triple World Champs.
The following details key moments on his journey to clinching the title in Qatar on Saturday, six rounds before the 2023 F1 World Championship is set to end. Probably the most dominant display by a driver ever witnessed in the top flight.
Bahrain Grand Prix: Verstappen and Perez dominate, Alonso third
The Dutchman was untouchable since he put his Red Bull on pole for the race in qualifying on Saturday, Sunday was the type of walk in the park we became accustomed to late on during his dominant second Championship season last year.
History will have it that, Verstappen won the 1080th Grand Prix in the history of the sport, at the start of the 73rd Formula 1 season; his first season-opening win, and his first F1 victory in Bahrain.
Before the race, we asked: "Max could be stopped in Bahrain? Answer: No! In 2023? Unlikely on the evidence of Round 1." And that proved to be prophetic.
Verstappen was masterful on the night, never put a foot wrong and is not going to be beaten easily any time soon. [Sound familiar?] While at that point, Perez looked as solid as ever which could mean a litany of one-two finishes in the races ahead for Red Bull, or at least until their rivals get their collective acts together. Which they never did and are still chasing.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Perfect Perez
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 Grand Prix: Masterful Verstappen on another planet
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 and his 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.
Spanish Grand Prix: Verstappen rules, Mercedes awaken
Verstappen 'owned' Barcelona that weekend, fastest in FP sessions, claiming his first pole at the venue on Saturday and on Sunday, making mincemeat of his rivals. Untouchable, incredible, masterful, amazing. We've run out of superlatives to describe the incredible talents and antics of the Dutch ace.
All afternoon he dominated, controlled and added more incredible numbers to his illustrious CV. His 40th F1 victory, his third in Barcelona having scored his first so famously at the venue back in 2016. The race marked more than a year of leading the championship.
The Dutch ace admitted: "It's a big pleasure to drive with a car like this. I think it showed again today. We had quite a lot of different strategies out there. For most of the race we were on the right one but a win here, it's incredible.
Canadian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen 2023 F1 World Champion
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.
We reported after the 42nd Canadian Grand Prix and witnessed Red Bull’s reigning Formula 1 World Champion win the race in Montreal in such an imperious manner, we were happy to be the first to award him this year’s Title after a mere eight of the 22 rounds.
Verstappen after his win: “Very happy right now. It was not a very straightforward race as the tyres were not getting into their window. It was very cold compared to Friday, we were sliding But, we made it work and to win the 100th GP for the team is pretty incredible.
British Grand Prix: Verstappen rules Brittania, locals chase
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.
When the lights went off, Verstappen lost the lead briefly (three laps) when a fabulously resurgent McLaren team ran him close, Lando Norris in particular was stellar in front of an appreciative home crowd, watching the racing in record numbers at Silverstone.
It was a big win on several fronts for Red Bull, their 11th in a row to match the Senna-Prost-McLaren record that has stood since 1988. It was also Verstappen’s eighth of the 2023 F1 season his team’s first ‘other home’ win since Mark Webber’s victory in 2012.
Dutch Grand Prix: Verstappen Master of Mayhem
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.
In the end, it took a five-lap sprint, at the very end to decide the Dutch Grand Prix and for Verstappen to conquer everything thrown at him, on a long but thrilling race day in the Netherlands. Grandstands packed to the rafters, dripping with adoration for their local hero.
Having won Part I of the GP which came with its own adventures and misadventures. All of Verstappen's hard work was nullified when rain pummeled down, forcing a red flag with the finish in sight.
Part II was tense stuff as Verstappen got a good restart but so did Alonso who went on to chase the RBR all the way to the flag, with Perez stalking the Aston Martin driver and hunting a one-two for his team. But a mistake and a penalty for speeding compromised his best intentions.
Forgetting the crazy race it was, to be honest, Verstappen winning the Dutch Grand Prix was no surprise. No one would have predicted a different result at the start of the race, or even when rain played havoc with proceedings early in the race.
Singapore Grand Prix: Super smart Sainz holds of Mercedes
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 Q3, the final phase of qualifying.
No matter how you look at it, Red Bull’s no-show in Singapore was a shocker, unexpected and out of left field. For the first time in a long time, Verstappen was not a factor all weekend, neither was teammate Perez.
But by the Dutchman’s lofty standards is a disappointing result amid a season of 12 victories. Perez in the sister car also struggled, his P13 grid start turned into eighth by the time the chequered flag waved. Nevertheless, their poorest showing in an otherwise stellar season. A blip, so to speak.
Japanese Grand Prix: Verstappen dominates, Red Bull champions again
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.
From the start, Verstappen roared off the line aggressively closing off the two McLarens in his mirrors to take the lead he was never challenged for thereafter. He crossed the line on lap 53, 19 seconds ahead of his closest rival. It was a typical masterclass of dominance: in other words, Max was on another planet!
Beaming, after GP victory 48 of his career, Verstappen reported in Parc Ferme: “Unbelievable weekend. To win here was great. The car worked really well on every compound. The most important thing was to win the constructors. Very proud for everyone working at the track and at the factory. We are having an incredible year.”
The title was never in doubt for a while, with the Qatar Sprint Race having the honour of making the inevitable official: Max Verstappen 2013 F1 World Champion.
Verstappen's Formula 1 career in numbers
This is the RBR driver's numbers after he clinched his third successive world championship in Qatar on Saturday:
- 1 - The number on his car since the start of 2022. He has otherwise raced with 33.
- 3 - Championships won in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The first was controversial, Verstappen level with Mercedes Lewis Hamilton into the final race at Abu Dhabi and winning after now-departed race director Michael Masi changed the safety car procedure.
- 10 - Record number of wins in a row in a single season, achieved this year.
- 15 - Most races won in a single season, achieved in 2022. He has won 13 of 16 so far in 2023.
- 17 - Verstappen was 17 years and 166 days old when he became the youngest F1 driver to date. He scored his first points aged 17 years and 180 days.
- 18 - Verstappen took his first win in Spain in 2016 at the age of 18 years and 228 days, becoming the youngest-ever race winner and first Dutch driver to triumph in Formula One. Also, his most podium finishes in a single season (2021)
- 26 - Verstappen's age as a triple champion, the youngest since Sebastian Vettel won his third at 25 and second youngest of all time.
- 28 - Fastest laps so far
- 30 - The number of pole positions to date, including for Sunday's race in Qatar.
- 34 - Verstappen is the 34th driver to win a Formula One world championship.
- 48 - Grand Prix wins to date, not including sprints. Verstappen is fifth on the all-time list and only three behind four times champion Alain Prost.
- 92 - Career podiums.
- 180 - Races since his debut in Australia with Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in 2015.
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