The seven factors powering Verstappen's 2022 F1 domination

After a tooth and nail and, at times, toxic Formula 1 world championship scrap last year, Max Verstappen's march to a second consecutive title has been the exact opposite. But has he really changed in 2022? Here's a dive into what factors have played a crucial role, both inside the Verstappen camp and elsewhere, in the Dutch driver's domination

Alex Kalinauckas Sep 23, 2022, 8:06 AM

Upd: Sep 23, 2022, 1:45 PM

The 2022 Formula 1 season has been a campaign of great transformation from the one that came before. This is epitomised in the start of the championship’s new era, with the ground-effects car designs that are already well liked and established.

There are of course similarities, too. The multi-team title fights F1 observers had hoped would return started off restricted to just two of what were already considered to be ‘Class A’ squads. Then, as the year has gone on, it has boiled down to just one top team: Red Bull. The slightest infraction of any racer still leads to bitter and divisive online arguments. But at the same time, F1’s post-pandemic-restrictions boom continues unabated.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.