Comparing Max Verstappen’s Dominance to Other Legendary Seasons in the 21st Century
The 2022 Formula One championship may be over, but Max Verstappen doesn’t seem to be done winning. The 24-year-old Dutchman has won the past five races starting from all over the grid. He currently has a 116-point lead over Charles Leclerc with six races to go.
Verstappen already has 11 wins and only needs to win half of the remaining races to break Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s record of 13 wins in a year.
Let’s look at some recent seasons in Formula One history to gain some perspective on how dominant Verstappen is and how dominant he needs to be to cement this season as one of the modern greats:
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2001 with Michael Schumacher
After a tough fight against Mika Hakkinen in 2000 for Schumacher’s first title with Ferrari, his second in 2001 was much easier. The German won nine races for a 52.9% winning percentage on the year.
To have a fair comparison between the 2000s scoring system and the modern scoring system enacted in 2010, Schumacher’s points have been adjusted. With the 25-point scoring system, without a point for the fastest lap, Schumacher would have ended the season with 327 points, 116 points ahead of second-place finisher in the championship, David Coulthard.
Verstappen already has 335 points in 16 races, while Schumacher had 327 through 17 races. Verstappen’s lead is similar to Schumacher’s, so this comparison is pretty accurate so far. The second-place finisher in the championship was a different constructor, as Coulthard was with McLaren. Leclerc is with Ferrari this year and Verstappen is with Red Bull. The 2021 World Champion looks more dominant than Schumacher, edging him out with 11 wins compared to only 9 for Schumacher.
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2002 with Michael Schumacher
What separates this season from Verstappen's current season is the legendary German has a record that Verstappen cannot break. In 2002, Schumacher finished every race of the season on the podium, an incredible feat that no other driver has accomplished. Verstappen has had two retirements due to car issues and a seventh-place finish due to an issue with the car.
Schumacher finished the year with 11 wins and an incredible average finishing position of 1.41. He won 64.7% of the races that year. With points adjusted, Schumacher scored 380 points compared to second-place finisher Rubens Barrichello with an adjusted 223 points.
Verstappen can’t compete with Schumacher’s points through 17 races and his perfect podium finish. But he could possibly have a points difference similar to Schumacher’s. Verstappen is up by 116 points with six races to go. He would need to gain 41 points on second place Leclerc to get this point differential. It’s possible, but it’s tough to keep the form Verstappen has had for the past five races. Schumacher’s 2002 season is one to tell the grandkids about.
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2004 with Michael Schumacher
Schumacher’s final title-winning season began with an astonishing level of dominance. He won 12 out of the first 13 races of the season, with the only one he didn’t win being Monaco, where he was forced to retire due to a collision. He ended the year with 13 wins and a 72.2% winning percentage for the year. He had an average finishing position of 2.12 and scored an adjusted 367 points, compared to his teammate and second-place finisher Barrichello with 271 points.
Verstappen would have to win out to have the run Schumacher did. That’s very unlikely to happen. What helps Verstappen’s case is he should have a bigger gap to second place than Schumacher did. As mentioned above, the young Dutch driver only needs three more wins to pass Schumacher and Vettel’s record of 13 wins. Verstappen should pass that and carve his name amongst the greats next to Schumacher.
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2011 with Sebastian Vettel
Vettel’s second title resulted in a boring season where he and the Red Bull dominated and cruised to victory. Vettel finished with 392 points, an average finish of 1.56, with 11 wins and a 57.9% winning percentage. The German finished 122 points ahead of second place Jenson Button.
This title has obvious parallels to Verstappen’s current season. It will be Verstappen’s second title in a row with Red Bull in convincing fashion, like Vettel’s second. They both have around the same gap. Verstappen has 11 wins like Vettel did, except Verstappen still has six races to go.
If this was the end of the season, this would be the best season to compare to, but Verstappen has time to rise about Vettel’s 2011 feats.
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2013 with Sebastian Vettel
This season and Schumacher’s 2002 season are the most dominant seasons in the 21st Century. Vettel set the record with nine wins in a row to finish the season. He finished with 13 wins and an average finishing position of 1.61. He won 68.4% of the races and finished with 397 points, compared to 242 for second-place Fernando Alonso.
Verstappen could equal this season, but he has some work to do. He’d need to win the next four races to tie Vettel and the next five to surpass his record. Verstappen would also need to increase his points gap by 40 points to beat Vettel's mark. It’s hard to see Verstappen break this record with how lucky he’s gotten this year with Ferrari’s faults.
What hurts Verstappen in these comparisons is his average finishing position of 2.80. Verstappen was classified as finishing 19th because he retired so close to the end. Regardless, Vettel’s 2013 season is one to strive for.
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2020 with Lewis Hamilton
It may be surprising to some that Hamilton wasn’t in this article more, but his championship fights with Vettel were closer than the stats show. However, 2020 was a different story, Hamilton dominated the field in the COVID-19 shortened season, winning the championship by 124 points over teammate Valtteri Bottas.
The British legend had 11 wins, an average finishing position of 1.88 and he won 64.7% of the races that year en route to finishing the season with 347 points.
Hamilton had a better average finishing position, but Verstappen will have him beat basically everywhere else. The only close comparison here could be with the gap to second place, as Verstappen is 116 points up and Hamilton finished the season up by 124 points.