Max Verstappen's thirst for F1 dominance still unquenched

Max Verstappen winning his fourth consecutive Japanese Grand Prix was testament to an age-old racing wisdom: fast cars don't win races, fast drivers do.

The Dutch-Belgian driver enjoyed surprising success this weekend at Suzuka, given the challenges Red Bull have endured with the RB21 — a car that has tossed around second drivers like a tumble dryer. But Verstappen's skill, aggressiveness, and pure grit came to the forefront at the Japanese GP, positioning him for a fifth consecutive world title.

Verstappen looks hell-bent on equalling Michael Schumacher's record at Ferrari with five consecutive World Championships.

From a spectator's point of view, however, the Japanese GP was as boring as oatmeal without sugar. Verstappen led from start to finish with little to no effort by McLaren to take away said lead.

Sure, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri tried in the final 10 laps to close in on the four-time world champion. Given all the statistics that put their cars miles ahead of Red Bull — and any other team, for that matter — it should have been an easy chase-down for Norris or Piastri. But word from the Red Bull camp is that Verstappen turned his car "all the way up" and opted for more speed at the expense of handling.

That may have been why Piastri and Norris saw nothing but red and white all race long.

The 27-year-old started on pole position after breaking the lap record at Suzuka yesterday during qualifying, posting a lap of 1:26.983.

The only real action fans got to see during the race was a pit lane incident between Verstappen and Lando Norris, which resulted in the McLaren driver veering onto the grass next to the pit lane. Both drivers entered the pits for a tyre change and exited side by side.

Neither driver wanted to give way — how could they, when they're fighting for dominance?

Camera footage from the cars suggests that both drivers believe they did nothing wrong.

“He forced me off,” Norris said during his pit exit. “He saw me alongside, I was easily alongside.”

Verstappen’s radio chat with his team during the incident indicated that he thought he did nothing wrong as well. But then again, when does Verstappen ever think he's in the wrong?

“He drove himself into the grass,” Verstappen said.

The long-time friends, turned ‘frenemies’ and now World Championship contenders, are separated by just one point at the top of the Driver Standings, with Norris leading the way.

Red Bull, unfortunately, are nowhere close to McLaren in the Constructors’ Standings, with the latter leaps and bounds ahead of the competition on 111 points. Mercedes sit a distant second with 75 points, while Red Bull have 61 points—thanks entirely to Verstappen.

Reflecting after his win, Verstappen said the race was “tough”, but admitted it was fun having the McLarens chasing him down.

“Not easy, of course, to manage the tyres, but I’m incredibly happy. It started off quite tough this weekend but we didn’t give up — we kept improving the car and today it was in its best form. Of course, starting on pole really made it possible to win this race.

“It’s very important to always try to maximise your performance, and I think we did that very well this weekend,” Verstappen said. “And then, of course, with that pit lane thing — yeah, it was tight.”

The holy trinity of Honda, Horner, and Verstappen saw its final race at Suzuka, as Red Bull and Honda have decided to part ways at the end of the season.

Verstappen said his win was a perfect farewell to their relationship.

“It was in the back of my mind as well in those last few laps — I was like, I need to try and stay ahead. It would be a great story for our final farewell race together with Honda here in Japan. I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over all those years together, and I think this is a perfect send-off,” he said.