Earlier this month, Max Verstappen picked up his second Formula 1 World Championship, in what has been a dominant campaign for the Dutchman.
Last time out in the USA, Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton to take victory, his 13th of the year which puts him level with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel for most F1 wins in a season.
Verstappen’s 2022 season is reminiscent of some of the campaigns that Hamilton enjoyed with Mercedes in previous years.
From 2014 to 2020, the Briton missed out on just one title, enjoying one of the most dominant stretches that the sport has ever seen.
However, in 2022, he is yet to take a race win, while Verstappen has enjoyed almost unrivalled success – so has the baton been handed over from Hamilton to the Red Bull driver?
“It is too early to say. If we get into next year and they’re dominating again, then yes, but the Ferraris have been quicker than them throughout qualifying,” Hamilton commented.
“I think they’ve every single lap probably had better performance on the majority of a lot of the season. Now, all they need to do is pick up their race pace, and they’ll be right with them.
“I think we’ve got a much, much bigger step and steeper hill to climb, but hopefully not impossible.”
Leclerc confident over 2023 F1 title charge
In the early stages of the 2022 season, Charles Leclerc was Verstappen’s closest challenger, and looked to be in contention for the title after the opening handful of rounds.
However, his hopes soon faded after a series of on-track mistakes, strategy errors and unreliability took hold.
The Monegasque driver has expressed hope that Ferrari will return to form next year and contest for the title.
I will do everything for it [Verstappen’s domination] to not happen and we are working as a team for it to not happen obviously,” he said. “I think it is very clear for us where we need to improve.
“Over one lap, we are really strong and I think we are on the same level as Red Bull; over the course of a race, then we are struggling with tyres. So we are putting our effort into that and I hope that we’ll see the result as soon as next year.
“Looking back at the season, there’s been not only tyre degradation but there has been mistakes, strategy, communication and tyre management is one of those things.
“And, again, we are trying to use these last races in the best way possible in order to challenge Max and Red Bull for the championship next year. But I’m confident we can do that because I know how hard we are working and I’m confident that we are working in the right direction.”
