Max Verstappen has had a superlative F1 season this year. In many ways, the Dutch driver has not taken his foot off the gas since winning his first F1 championship last year. The Red Bull star is the favourite to win the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve next weekend.
Verstappen has won the four of the previous five Grand Prix this season. Meanwhile, his main rival, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, has not been able to win the last four races despite taking the pole position in each of the races. Such has been Verstappen’s consistency that he has not finished on the podium only two times in the last 40 races that he has completed.
The 24-year-old driver finished sixth in the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix and ninth in the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. Verstappen’s form can be judged by the fact that except for his third-place finish in Monaco, the reigning world champion has won every race he has finished this season. Verstappen’s stunning consistency indicates that this year’s championship is his to lose.
His nearest rival for the driver’s title as of now is his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. The Mexican driver is only 21 points behind Verstappen and would be looking to stake his own claim on the world championship.
Before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko made it clear that the team would not favour any driver this early in the season.
“Perez can become world champion. But for that, he has to have the speed so he can clearly beat Max on the track. We generally have no team orders or a number 1 policy. If you compare the results, it’s four wins for Max [Verstappen] and one win for Perez. So Max is the more consistent. In terms of absolute speed, Max is the one who dominates, but we will see how it develops,” Helmut Marko was quoted as saying.
Team principal Christian Horner was delighted after Verstappen and Perez secured the first and second position respectively at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. “We asked them to race each other cleanly and fairly and that’s what they did. They are doing a great job for the team and we’re very said after the race.
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