Ranked: Max Verstappen’s four F1 titles from least to most impressive

Facing his most opposition since 2021, Max Verstappen has wrapped up another world title but where does it rank compared to his previous achievements?

The Dutchman has joined the esteemed company of Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on four World Championships but where does 2024 stack up compared to the previous three?

Ranked: Max Verstappen’s four world titles

4.) 2022 (15 wins, 17 podiums, 454 points)

After 2021, 2022 was a collective exhale from the F1 paddock. The season began with much intrigue after the biggest regulation changes since 2014 but it was not Red Bull who started on the front foot.

Ferrari won two of the opening three races, while Red Bull suffered a rare double mechanical DNF meaning that heading into Imola, the Milton Keynes side trailed the Italian outfit by 49 points and Verstappen was 46 points behind Charles Leclerc.

That deficit led Verstappen to say there was “no reason” to believe he would retain the title but things changed at Imola, the fourth race of the year.

While many teams bounce back with a major upgrade package, Red Bull’s upgrade schedule in 2022 was incremental gains and by Imola, they were ahead. Verstappen won by 16 seconds over Sergio Perez. Come the Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen was ahead in the title race and has not let go of top spot since.

He would finish the season 146 points ahead, the third biggest gap in F1 history, and make himself a double World Champion.

3.) 2023 (19 wins, 21 podiums, 575 points)

Given the domain of the RB19, some may argue that 2023 was Verstappen’s least impressive year but that would ignore simply how good he was across the whole of the season.

It is one thing to be dominant but Verstappen’s 2023 may never be beaten. Most consecutive races won, most races won from pole, highest percentage of races to wins ratio, on the podium in all but one race, biggest title-winning margin in history, most points gained by a driver in a signal year, 1,003 of 1,325 laps led.

The number of records he broke goes on and on.

Yes, the dominance may have fatigued just about every fan watching but 2023 will be one of those seasons you look back on in years to come as a spectacle of what a car and what a driver can do.

2.) 2024 (9 wins, 14 podiums, 437 points)

In a year that started with Red Bull seeming like it was imploding from within, the outcome is the same as the last three seasons.

Verstappen has triumphed in the most unlikely circumstances of his career. It is often debated over if it is man or machine that wins championships but this season, it feels as if Verstappen has willed a fourth world title into existence.

A near perfect start gave the illusion that it was business as usual but Red Bull were caught napping. A complex RB20 opened the door for Ferrari and later McLaren to grab supremacy and perhaps against any other driver, one of those two teams would have been celebrating a first Drivers’ title in decades.

But Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, whoever, is facing a generational talent at the peak of his ability. His win in Brazil, from 17th on the grid, will go down as one of the finest drives of his career and one of the finest in the history of sport.

2024 has not been easy by any stretch of the means but in the end, Verstappen has got it done.

1.) 2021 (10 wins, 18 podiums, 395.5 points)

A title battle for the ages.

Heading into 2021, there was every indication that Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton would be on course for yet another double championship. There was plenty of reason to believe that too. 2020 was a dominant season for the Silver Arrows, failing to win just four races, and with sweeping regulation changes coming in 2022, it was thought most would write 2021 off and focus on hitting the ground running the year later.

But the very first race suggested that was the wrong idea. Verstappen took pole and although Hamilton would win in Bahrain, it was the first punch of what would be a season-long grudge match.

That campaign elevated Verstappen to a new level. Previously a young prodigy, the Dutchman evolved into a genuine world title candidate and one bidding to take down the strongest dynasty in F1 history.

Four wins out of five gave Verstappen a 32-point lead over Hamilton but Silverstone was the turning point. A moment when Mercedes fought back and Hamilton’s crash with Verstappen in Copse ensured this was no longer a friendly fight.

The second half of the season saw Mercedes and Red Bull trade blows. Aside from Monza where Verstappen and Hamilton crashed into each other, every grand prix from Belgium onwards was won by Mercedes or Red Bull.

The finale of course is etched into history. Everyone has an opinion and even saying the name and year now will be greeted with responses just as volatile as the days after the event.

But ignoring how it ended, 2021 was a coming of age season for Verstappen and turned him into the winning machine we have seen ever since.

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