History is made up of individual moments. Here are 10 that get to the heart of why Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominated in 2022
WORDS: CHRIS MEDLAND
1 DNF in Melbourne capped a frustrating start
If there was any talk of one team walking away with the Formula 1 World Championship when the paddock made the long trip back from Australia it was all surrounding Ferrari – as you will recall.
And that’s not an overstatement; it was exactly the fear after Charles Leclerc had won two of the first three races, both from pole position, finished second in the other and set the fastest lap in all three. Allied to that strong start were Red Bull reliability concerns.
Both Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez had dropped out late on in Bahrain due to a fuel system issue that it was not able to find an instant fix for, but Melbourne was perhaps even more painful. Unable to match Leclerc’s performance in either qualifying or the race itself, Verstappen was settling for second when another fuel problem ended his afternoon early.
Red Bull was well and truly on the back foot and Verstappen was frustrated, saying at the time: “These kinds of things, if you want to fight for the title, they cannot happen.”
The words were heeded. A two-week break followed and Red Bull took full advantage to make its car as close to bulletproof as possible. Verstappen would not suffer another race-ending issue that would impact his title challenge.
2 Imola
superiority while Ferrari loses pace
The early stages of the season felt like they were missing something given the lack of a challenge being presented by Max Verstappen’s main rival from 2021 as Lewis Hamilton was hamstrung by an uncompetitive Mercedes.
Porpoising concerns and a tricky car meant there was rarely a Mercedes in the mix at the sharp end, but even Red Bull was expecting that to change as the season progressed. By the fourth round in Imola, the feeling that maybe the Silver Arrows would never be a factor had started to creep in.