46, the new talisman number for Verstappen

The 2022 F1 campaign has not yet reached its half point, but it is very important as the reigning champion, the Dutchman Max Verstappen is on track for his second consecutive crown after adding this Sunday his sixth win in nine races held. With the exception of his third at the Monaco GP, after Checo Pérez and Carlos Sainz, he has finished all the races he has finished as a winner under the checkered flag.

With this cruising speed in the championship, Verstappen will hardly face another championship finish like last year in Abu Dhabi where everything was decided between him and Hamilton in the most recent lap of the competition. In 2021 at this point in the ninth race there were 32 points he got from the Briton, the highest difference between them.

And curiosity is given that the Red Bull driver has gone from being 46 points behind the leader, then Charles Leclerc, after the Australian Grand Prix (he was sixth in the standings after two retirements due to power outages and fuel leaks, respectively) to currently dominate the standings 46 points ahead of teammate Pérez after his victories in Canada in his 150th career.

“It’s still very far. I know the gap is pretty big, but I also know it’s going to change fast. I mean, after the third race I’m already 46, so we have to stay calm, we have to focus and we have to improve because now it’s not we are the fastest “, Verstappen explained at the end of the race.

“It’s a bit different, like last weekend (in Azerbaijan) it was good in the race, now it’s not good, but we still managed to win and I think that’s also a quality,” said the Dutchman who also had to face a radio which stopped working. But even worse was his teammate Pérez signing his second zero due to a gearbox damage.