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Just how dominant has Max Verstappen been this year?
By almost any metric, Max Verstappen has been the dominant force this 2023 Formula 1 season.
Verstappen has won eight of the ten grands prix this year. He has led 467 laps this season, or 76.6% of the laps run this season. Verstappen has been on pole for seven of the ten races this season, and he has built a commanding 99-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship over teammate Sergio Pérez.
But there is one stat that best outlines his dominance this year.
Speaking with the media following qualifying on Saturday for the British Grand Prix, Verstappen was asked about Pérez’s struggles in qualifying. His Red Bull teammate has not reached Q3 since the Miami Grand Prix, and given the dominance of the RB19 this season, that has raised some eyebrows.
Including, apparently, Verstappen’s.
“Of course I don’t know where things went wrong today, but with this car you normally have to end up in Q3,” said Verstappen on Saturday at Silverstone.
He then added this.
“Of course we are also fighting for the Constructors’ Championship, but I think I can win that on my own at the moment,” said the championship leader.
And, he might be right about that.
Following his win at the British Grand Prix, Verstappen is sitting on 255 points this year.
Mercedes, currently in second place in the Constructors’ Championship, has 203.
So a hypothetical “Verstappen F1” team would still be in first place, even removing the 156 points Pérez has scored this year.
Of course, in this situation Pérez’s points might go elsewhere, changing the equation. But honestly, with the way Verstappen hs been performing, it seems he could indeed win a title by himself.
