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Max Verstappen won the 2022 F1 Italian GP starting 7th on the grid. He is on a hot five-race win streak and is showing no signs of stopping. He has won 11 out of 16 races so far and is 116 points ahead of his nearest rival Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. With six races to go, Verstappen could win the world championship in Singapore if he extends the championship lead to 125 points or more.
Writing for the Unibet sports blog, former 2-time world champion Mika Hakkinen stated:
"This is his fifth race win in a row, he has won every Grand Prix since France, and Red Bull have really pulled ahead. I expect he will be celebrating his second World Championship in Singapore or Japan in early October unless there’s an incident of reliability issue."
Red Bull are having a great season this year. They have won 12 races out of 16 so far this season, with Max Verstappen winning 11 of those 12.
Pierre Waché, technical director at Red Bull, commented on the car's performance at the 2022 F1 Italian GP press conference. He explained why Red Bull is so dominant on low downforce tracks, saying:
"I think the car is efficient at each track. Just when the track efficiency is going up, in terms of demand, our car comes to be working better compared relatively to the others. I think it’s more in this way. I think high-downforce track, our efficiency is a little bit less an advantage, compared to others."
In recent years, the Singapore track has not favored Red Bull, who last won there in 2013. The event at the Marina Bay street circuit was last won by Sebastian Vettel driving for Ferrari in 2019. The race has returned to the calendar three years later following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Red Bull will be looking to increase their qualifying pace in Singapore. They have won pole in only four races this season and it is the only area where the team has to improve.
Max Verstappen looking to prove to everyone he is world champion material
Max Verstappen is also looking to redeem his name and prove to the world that his 2021 world championship win was not a fluke. He won the championship last year in the final race in Abu Dhabi under controversial circumstances after Nicholas Latifi crashed in the late stages of the race and a Safety Car was brought out.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen had some lapped cars separating the two, which were the only ones allowed to unlap just before the race restarted. With no cars hindering him, Verstappen on fresher tires easily passed Hamilton and won the championship. Some fans still think his victory last year was a fluke. This year, he is looking to win the championship dominantly and shut all his critics up.
