Max Verstappen, the Four-Time World Champion

All-time greats don't need to have it easy to win.

Max Verstappen is a world champion. Again. He added a fourth title to his collection. And he did it in a car that is likely to finish the season 3rd in the standings.

It was far from the 2023 easy. It wasn’t easy at all. Quite the opposite. Yet he did it.

A cynic might argue that 70% of this year’s championship battle between the Dutchman and Lando Norris unfolded in the media, particularly in outlets from the British Isles, with only 30% occurring on the track. There is a lot of truth to it, I think. On the other hand, the McLaren driver genuinely had a chance—one that transformed into an opportunity following qualifying at Interlagos.

The doors had opened for Norris, but Verstappen slammed them shut so hard that the window panes rattled.

Dominate, Capitalize, Overcome

It all started perfectly for the Red Bull driver. His machinery, the RB20 picked up where its predecessor left – as a dominant car. Over the course of five races, the Dutchman won four. Who knows, he might have secured a fifth victory if it hadn't been for a brake failure in Australia.

Things began to complicate for the Milton Keynes team in Miami. Verstappen had won the sprint; however, in the race, he couldn’t pull away from Oscar Piastri, nor could he match Norris after the Safety Car restart. Such outcomes had been unthinkable in the first five races. From Miami onward, the RB20 was no longer dominant. Its competitive status varied from being joint best to the fourth-best car in a given race.

During the period between the races in Florida and Nevada, the Dutchman made the difference.

He achieved hard-fought victories at Imola, Montreal, and Barcelona. In the first, he withstood charging Norris. In the second, after benefiting from a fortunate Safety Car situation that hadn’t worked in his favor in Miami, he made fewer mistakes than the other podium finishers in mixed conditions. In the third he seized the first opportunity to overtake George Russell.

And then there was the race in Brazil, where Verstappen, much like in 2016, demonstrated his prowess in wet conditions and secured his best victory to date. Starting from P17, he carved his way through the field with daring overtakes, strategic gamble and blistering pace.

It was a performance for the ages and a prime contender for the best drive of the decade.

Maximize, Limit Damage

Verstappen was exceptional for the majority of the time, even when he didn’t win. Of course one could point to races in Monaco, Hungary, or Azerbaijan where he could have done better, however weaker performances are inevitable and tend to occur more frequently during challenging seasons. This is particularly true for a car that becomes increasingly difficult to drive and, depending on the track, fluctuates within the competitive order. Nevertheless, leading up to Las Vegas, the Dutchman finished outside the top 5 only on three ocassions, not including the aforementioned DNF in Australia.

Given that the P2 at Silverstone must have felt like a victory, much like the 4th place in Belgium, these were the instances when the Dutch driver finished ahead of Norris during the ten-race stretch between his wins in Spain and Brazil. He consistently stood on the second step of the podium whenever his rival claimed victory. He just kept collecting points like a squirrel gathering nuts, steadily growing his stack.

All of this contributed to his triumph… just as showing no mercy to Norris on three separate occasions.

Take No Prisoners

There are clean racers and ruthless go-getters. Clean racers are easy prey for ruthless go-getters.

Even though many people—fans, pundits, and others—disapprove of it, and some even regard it as a psychological weakness, being ruthless is an advantage in wheel-to-wheel combat and championship battles.

If you always race cleanly, if you never put your foot on the line, let alone dare to cross it, then you’ll fall a victim of a competitor who’s never afraid to do any of these things. Especially since they often work in his favor.

As a result of their collision in Austria, Verstappen gained 10 points on Norris instead of losing 8 had he allowed him to pass. The Brit would have won the race, and the Dutchman would have had to settle for P2. Instead, the former DNFed and the latter finished in 5th place. Verstappen gained an additional 3 points by pushing Norris off the track at COTA. He lost 10 points in Mexico; however, he could have lost even more.

According to Andrea Stella, his driver could have won the race if it weren't for the Dutchman's bullying tactics holding him back. Once in clean air, Norris matched the pace of the Ferraris, even closing in on them and overtaking one near the end.

“In hindsight now, when I look at the incidents, there is a little bit of disappointment because without that I think Lando could have fought for victory,” concluded Stella.

So, if Verstappen had raced fairly and lost his position to Norris, he would have finished 4th, with his rival possibly winning the race. In that case, he would have lost 13 points instead of 10.

Fair racing in Austria, the USA, and Mexico may have cost the Dutchman 24 points, while his unyielding attitude earned him 13. A cold calculation demonstrates that the latter was the more effective approach.

A Strategic Tool

Verstappen is ruthless, yet he is also intelligent. He is not a reckless hothead; rather, he is a calculated competitor. Since approximately 2019, the year he became a complete driver in my opinion, he has employed his unyielding aggression very strategically.

At the beginning of the 2022 season, Toto Wolff said: “Last year Max drove a worse car with the knife between his teeth and won the world title. Now he has the fastest car and everything is easier for him.” These words sum up the Dutchman quite accurately: he’ll be ruthless whenever he finds it necessary.

Unlike in 2021 and this year, there was little to gain by crossing the line in 2022 and 2023. On the contrary, there was much to lose. As a result, incidents involving Verstappen and other drivers were infrequent and minor, such as cutting across Mick Schumacher at Silverstone in 2022 or forcing Perez off the track during the sprint at Red Bull Ring the following year, after his teammate had put him on the grass.

Car superior: be cautious, car inferior: take no prisoners.

The Dutchman’s Place in History

Verstappen has joined the elite group of drivers with at least four championships on their resumes: Fangio, Prost, Schumacher, Vettel, and Hamilton. Previously, this group could be counted on one hand; now, it requires both hands. It is a remarkably exclusive group, especially considering that the sport will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2025.

Now, the Dutchman has either become part of, or has strengthened his case in the so-called "GOAT debate." A debate I’m not participating in. I’m an ardent agoatist. I disagree with the idea. I believe that evaluating drivers within the context of the eras in which they competed is the most sensible approach. Therefore, I contend that there are only the best drivers of their respective eras.

“Era,” in Formula 1, is an arbitrary and a rather loose term. If instead of it the word “decade,” is used, then Max Verstappen, without a shadow of a doubt, has been the best driver of the 2020s so far.

And now he’s running away with it.