Verstappen's dominance in F1 did not make it boring

According to McLaren boss Zak Brown, Max Verstappen's dominance of Formula 1 this year did not make the 2022 season feel dull because of excitement elsewhere.

Max Verstappen in a file photo. (Image: Twitter/Max Verstappen)
By Mahaksh Chauhan | Dec 4, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The ground effect car era of F1’s new rules was designed to spice up the racing and bring the grid much closer together. Despite a spectacular beginning when there wasn’t much separating Ferrari and Red Bull early on, Verstappen was able to pull away and win the second half of the season thanks to his team’s efforts in lightening the weight of the RB18. Four races before the season’s finish, at the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen was able to secure the championship.

Dominance

Fan enthusiasm appeared to be rather high even though Red Bull’s lead suggested a far less compelling narrative than in recent years when the title races have frequently come down to the wire. And Brown in particular believes that even while the race for the win was sometimes a predetermined conclusion, the tremendous attention that F1 nevertheless attracted indicated that the 2022 regulations were successful in producing good racing.

The racing “certainly seems to have been better,” he said. “I believe that everyone was worried that cars would all have the same appearance. Most definitely not. There are many various concepts. “New regulations should always be improved, but I believe we did pretty well. Additionally, this year’s racing has been incredibly thrilling. Given Max’s dominance, the season hasn’t seemed dull, even though based just on the standings, one might assume otherwise. However, I believe that every race has been incredibly entertaining.

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Three team’s domination

One of the season’s unfavourable statistical findings was that the top three teams, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari, essentially controlled the podium positions. It was believed that the new aero development restriction restrictions combined with the cost cap would have levelled the playing field to allow more teams to compete at the front. In the end, Lando Norris’ third-place performance in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix made McLaren the only team outside the top three to finish on the podium in 2022.

The fact that his team had at least once broken the tie was encouraging, according to Brown, but he acknowledged that more needed to be done. “[We] learned a great deal. Many ups and downs,” the man replied. Despite not being as competitive as we were the previous year, I believe our racing team has improved. Operationally, we’re stronger. “Our rest areas are superior. We have investments that are almost finished. So I believe we have learned a lot. In anticipation of the upcoming year, new restrictions.