The recent performances from Verstappen made other drivers on the grid look ordinary on multiple occasions. Although the Dutchman enjoyed occasional competition during races in 2023, the reigning world champion had an almost untouched performance in terms of points. The majority of the grid had to bow down to the world champion’s racecraft and cede the loss in front of him. Notably, Verstappen won 19 races from a total of 22 races in a record-breaking title campaign.

In addition to this, Red Bull nearly scored a perfect season in 2023, with Milton Keynes winning 21 races out of the total 22 races down the season. Some issues during the Singapore GP caused the end of the Dutchman’s winning streak as well as Red Bull’s attempt at scoring a perfect season. Regardless, Milton Keynes prepares for the 2024 season with the RB20’s unveil on 15th February 2024, a few weeks ahead of the testing session in Bahrain. Meanwhile, here is a recap of the moments where the Dutchman brutally humiliated his opponents during the races.

5: Max Verstappen’s riveting drive in the wets at the Brazilian GP in 2016

During the Brazilian GP at Interlagos in 2016, Verstappen had qualified in the fourth position for the Sunday race. However, this result quickly turned into a nightmare of a race following the extremely wet conditions at Interlagos in 2016. The entire race had wet conditions with no signs of a dry race for the entire session. Hence, driving in the wets meant that the Dutchman had to push extra hard to score the victory in the race.

Max Verstappen at the Brazilian GP 2016 (via F1Chronicle).

Multiple drivers were crashing on the grid due to the extreme race conditions. Additionally, following the pit-lane restart from Kimi Raikkonen‘s crash, the 19-year-old driver recovered well from the race restarted under the safety car. Although the world champion deserved a P2 finish in the race, a great drive followed by a P3 finish wasn’t the worst result. Despite these hardships, Verstappen powered through the grid and clinched a podium with a P3 finish in the race.

4: Max Verstappen’s epic spin-off recovery at the Hungarian GP of 2022

Max Verstappen, on multiple occasions, has scored great results despite starting from a difficult position from poor qualifying sessions. One such race was the Hungarian GP of 2022 where he started from the tenth position for the main race. Despite starting from tenth, Verstappen quickly powered through the pecking order and started gaining victory chances in the race. Additionally, great pit-stop and strategy from Red Bull had facilitated the Dutchman to rise quickly through the positions.

Max Verstappen at the Hungarian GP 2022 (via Motorsport.com).

However, during the 42nd lap of the race, the 25-year-old had a spin-off at turn 13 which saw Charles Leclerc quickly gain the advantage and overtake him. Regardless, Verstappen held the lead over his teammate Sergio Perez despite the spin-off. Following this incident, the Dutchman started gaining quickly and finally took the victory position from the Monegasque and again won the 2022 Hungarian GP.

3: Max Verstappen’s daring pit stop for fastest lap at the Austrian GP of 2023

Max Verstappen is a very daring and adventurous driver. The Dutchman has a single mindset while racing in F1, which is to maximize results and points during any session. This was evident from his daring move at the Austrian GP of 2023. During this race, Verstappen had a great drive and was in the first position with a great lead to the runner-up Leclerc. The 22s gap was too comfortable for finishing for the reigning world champion as he pitted during the last few laps of the race.

Max Verstappen at the Austrian GP 2023 (via The Irish Times).

Notably, Verstappen had received multiple warnings for track limits and another mistake could’ve sabotaged his entire race. Regardless, the 26-year-old pitted in the 69th lap for softs and took the fastest lap of the race to score maximum points. The 22s lead was cut short to a mere four-second gap following the pit stop. However, Verstappen’s pure racecraft facilitated him to not only win the race but also score the fastest lap of the race in a great fashion.

2: Max Verstappen’s tremendous lead at the Hungarian GP in 2023

Max Verstappen enjoyed his share of great races during the 2023 season. However, the Hungarian GP of 2023 was barely an ordinary race for the Dutchman. During the race, the world champion was the pole-sitter and started amazingly from the first position. For the entire race, Verstappen led the pack of drivers and finished with a great lead.

Max Verstappen at the Hungarian GP 2023 (via detik.com).

The RB19’s dominant performance facilitated the Dutchman to finish so strongly in the race. Verstappen enjoyed a great gap of 33s to the runner-up driver, Lando Norris. This exorbitant amount of gap allowed the 26-year-old to enjoy a smooth sailing race for the entire session. However, many fans and drivers had talked about how the races became ‘boring’ solely due to such an untouched performance from a singular driver.

1: Max Verstappen’s perfect weekend in the Japanese GP of 2023

Max Verstappen enjoyed a great win streak of ten races from Miami to Monza. However, this victory streak was cut short by the team’s performance at the Singapore GP. Notably, the Singaporean GP was the only race where the Dutchman could not score a podium in a race of the 2023 season. Following the nightmarish race of Singapore, Verstappen had talked about the comeback in the Japanese GP.

Max Verstappen at the Japanese GP 2023 (via Red Bull).

The reigning world champion stayed true to his words and scored an amazing comeback at the Japanese GP. The Dutchman did not only win the race but scored first lap times in all three practice sessions of the race. Additionally, Verstappen also qualified in the pole position for the main race for the Asian circuit. The 26-year-old was almost the race leader for all the laps, with a loss of lead in just a couple of laps due to pitting.