Max Verstappen completes a trend we hadn’t seen since 1988
By Asher Fair
Max Verstappen became a first-time Formula 1 world champion last Sunday by winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit.
A controversial sequence of events in the final laps of last Sunday’s 2021 Formula 1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit led to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen standing atop the podium as the newly crowned world champion.
His victory over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in this 58-lap championship-deciding race around the 16-turn, 3.281-mile (5.280-kilometer) road course on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates came after he led only the final lap, and it made him the first new world champion since Nico Rosberg beat Hamilton back in 2016.
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It also completed a trend we hadn’t seen since 1988.
Back in September, Alex Palou secured his first career IndyCar championship in his second year in the series and first with Chip Ganassi Racing. Then in November, Kyle Larson secured his first NASCAR Cup Series championship in his eighth year in the series and first with Hendrick Motorsports.
This means that, for the first time in 33 (yes, that number again) years, IndyCar, the NASCAR Cup Series, and Formula 1 all crowned new champions in a single year.
The last time that happened, it was Danny Sullivan winning the 1988 IndyCar (CART) championship, Bill Elliott winning the 1988 NASCAR Cup Series championship, and Ayrton Senna winning the 1988 Formula 1 world championship.
Interestingly, in the 32 years from 1989 to 2020, there were only three seasons without a new champion in any one of these three series (2011, 2013 and 2019). In fact, on 16 occasions, there were two new champions in a single year.
But not once during that span had three drivers who entered the year without a championship gone into the following year as champions.
These three series are all scheduled to start on different weekends in 2022. Take a look.
- NASCAR Cup Series: Sunday, February 20 – Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway
- IndyCar: Sunday, February 27 – Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida
- Formula 1: Sunday, March 20 – Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit
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There are plenty of drivers who could potentially become first-time champions again in 2022. But will it happen again in all three series? The odds are certainly against it.