Max Verstappen powered to an impressive victory at the Qatar Grand Prix by avoiding the chaos that unfolded behind him at the Lusail International Circuit.
Red Bull made massive strides to improve their car after a disastrous Sprint race, in which Verstappen finished eighth place and Sergio Perez was last.
When the RB20’s aero platform and a few mechanical elements were tweaked after the cars were lifted out of parc ferme, Verstappen was able to challenge for pole just hours after he complained that his car was undrivable.
Despite taking a one-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly in qualifying, a fired-up Verstappen took the lead instantly from George Russell from Turn 1 and did not look back.
While his rivals were penalised for a myriad of infractions, including Lando Norris receiving a 10-second stop/go penalty for ignoring double-waved yellow flags, Verstappen kept calm and took his ninth victory of the season.
After one stat emerged about his win over the Qatar GP weekend, Damon Hill took to social media to explain why it sums up the reason Verstappen is unbeatable at the moment.
Max Verstappen first driver to win a championship in car that isn’t fastest in over 40 years
Despite their business-as-usual start to the season at Red Bull, Verstappen has not had the quickest car throughout the year.
The RB20 was overtaken on development by McLaren, Ferrari and at times Mercedes this year. It was Verstappen’s consistency that enabled him to seal his fourth title.
Verstappen became the first F1 driver to become world champion with a car that is third or worse in the Constructors’ Championship in over 40 years, something Hill thinks is a momentous achievement.
“I think that says it all. At the risk of stating the bleedin obvious, Max is phenomenal. Stats like this don’t lie,” wrote Hill.
Max Verstappen almost lost Qatar GP lead with Safety Car issue
It was not all smooth for Verstappen, after suffering from a bizarre incident in the Qatar GP that nearly ended in him losing the lead to Norris during one of the Safety Car restarts.
According to Christian Horner, over team radio Verstappen was reporting that the lights on the Safety Car did not go out before the restart leading to confusion over whether to prepare.
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It later transpired there was a malfunction between the lights on the roof of the Safety Car and those attached to the rear spoiler.
The issue almost led to Verstappen losing the lead, as he went too slow on one of the restarts and was close to being overtaken by Norris.
