Formula 1: Max Verstappen completely transformed his dominance in 2024

Some might have initially felt Lando Norris' maiden Formula 1 Grand Prix victory in Miami was a fluke.

Whether it was the timing of the safety car, the safety car's unconventional entry onto the race track, or the fact that Max Verstappen's RB20 was dealing with damage from an uncharacteristic mistake which saw the Dutchman clobber a bollard, there were those who felt that the Miami Grand Prix was just one of those races that got away from Red Bull's now four-time world champion and ended up in the lap of the McLaren driver, who had been winless in his first five seasons in the sport.

After all, even in a completely dominant 2023 season, Verstappen ended three race weekends somewhere other than on the top step of the podium.

But McLaren's pace at Imola the following race proved that the tides had indeed turned.

Verstappen was able to control the bleeding for the next month and a half or so, winning at Imola over a hard-charging and clearly quicker Norris and doing the same in Spain.

He also won in Canada, with a well-timed safety car this time playing to his advantage. His only non-win during that stretch came in Monaco, where there were zero passes inside the top 10 all race long.

Then he endured a 10-race losing streak. The driver who had won 27 times in the previous 33 races lost 10 consecutive races, and at no point during that stretch did the Red Bull look like anything better than the third fastest car.

The warning signs were there since Miami, and all of a sudden, Verstappen couldn't win.

He was on his longest losing streak since 2020, and it marked the first time since 2016, his first year with Red Bull, that he had gone all of July, August, September, and October without winning. The RB20 had not been the outright fastest car since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.

The sky might have been falling – for anybody other than Verstappen.

Yet from the Miami Grand Prix through the end of that 10-race losing streak, Verstappen was only outscored by Norris by a total of five points.

During that same stretch, McLaren outscored Red Bull by 153 points. Even Ferrari beat them by 69.

Verstappen is known for his uncompromising, ruthless driving style, to the point where those who look for a reason to criticize him can see no fault with any other driver when there is any sort of an on-track run-in. Sometimes, it might even be justified.

Look no further than Verstappen's run-in with Norris in Austria, which ironically ended up being a net gain since Norris was knocked out of the race, or his run-in with Lewis Hamilton in Hungary, which cost him multiple positions and valuable points.

Yet even amid those sketchy moments during that losing streak, Verstappen learned how to "pick up the pieces" when it became clear that his car was no longer capable of firing off from the front row and charging off into the distance, leaving the field in a battle for second.

He started to consistently take a slower than usual race car and finish one or two spots up the road than he probably should have.

He had no business finishing the British Grand Prix in the top five. Yet strong race craft in mixed conditions, plus mistakes from others, saw him place second, just behind Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes.

He had no business finishing ahead of Norris in the Belgian Grand Prix after taking a grid penalty. Yet he managed to do so, even with only a fourth place finish.

Forcing Norris into a mistake at Circuit of the Americas, which ultimately helped him retain his spot on the podium, was yet another example. If it was there for the taking, he was going to take it – even if it wasn't a race win.

The only "controversy" surrounding that move was concocted by those looking to criticize, unwilling to accept the fact that Verstappen had once again outmaneuvered and outclassed his rival in a faster race car.

Verstappen has slowly but steadily become willing to take what is available on a far more consistent basis than he has in the past, rather than trying to send it and win it with a sixth place car.

Because as we also saw in Mexico, things didn't work out for him when he tried that on Norris (twice in one lap, in fact). And going back to his rookie days, even for as historically successful as he has been, those kinds of things really never have.

But during that 10-race losing streak, no driver had a better worst finish than Verstappen: sixth.

And his average finish of 4.0? Still tied for the best in Formula 1 (and for those curious, it was not tied with Norris) during that stretch.

That's why he's a four-time world champion. That's why the title battle isn't going to Abu Dhabi.

The funny thing – and this is not intended with any disrespect toward Norris whatsoever – is the fact that whenever Norris won during Verstappen's 10-race losing streak, the media immediately began doing the math regarding where Verstappen needed to finish to win the world championship, provided Norris won every remaining race.

Norris' dominance in Zandvoort prompted the calculations for the final nine races, and his dominance in Singapore did the same for the final six.

But the reality of it is that having the fastest car, which McLaren certainly had coming off of those events, doesn't always translate to finishing on the top step of the podium. And Verstappen's 2024 season has forced even his most staunch critics to take notice.

We're looking at you, Sky Sports.

He learned how to consistently capitalize on what was available, and he did it without "changing his style", per se. And from Miami until now, he has managed to outscore Norris by 36 points in a car that ranks fourth – not even third – in points scored during that 18-race stretch.

Red Bull were ironically eliminated from constructor championship contention in the Qatar Grand Prix, a race Verstappen won after entering the weekend with the sixth shortest odds (+850) to win. And so it was confirmed that this win would be Verstappen's 29th career victory in a car that did not win the constructor title that same year.

In all of Formula 1 history, only Michael Schumacher has more of such wins. The seven-time world champion and 91-time Grand Prix winner won 32 races in seasons his teams did not win the constructor title.

Verstappen's ability to keep things together even amid Red Bull's struggles arguably went beyond what we saw him do in 2022 and 2023, winning a total of 34 races – more than any other driver had ever won in any three-year stretch.

But the 27-year-old reminded everybody that he's still the third winningest driver in Formula 1 history as well.

It's not just about the thirds and fourths. Even in the RB20.

When Norris took pole in Brazil and Verstappen was forced to start P17 after getting caught out in qualifying by a red flag and taking another grid penalty, fans were told that this could be the race that changes the complexion of the championship. At that point, Verstappen was 44 points ahead of Norris.

If you listened to Sky Sports during qualifying, this was the race that fans were going to look back on as the race that won Norris the championship. This one, right here, right now.

It was the one, alright. But not for Norris.

All Verstappen did was drive from 17th to the front – in the rain – and win for the first time in more than four months, all but putting the world championship away on a day when Norris started out tracking just 19 points behind. The gap was back up to 62 points, 10 points higher than it was before Norris' Miami win.

Norris hasn't finished ahead of his title rival since. Because Verstappen hasn't stopped there.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was yet another lackluster race for Verstappen and Red Bull, yet he did exactly what he needed to do to clinch his fourth world title, placing fifth ahead of Norris in sixth.

Then in Qatar, at a Lusail track that was not supposed to suit Red Bull amid their recent overall decline in performance, Verstappen looked like the Verstappen of 2022 and 2023. Though it wasn't as dominant as some of his other wins, he maintained his gap over Norris the entire race, led every lap, and did not make a critical error like Norris did during the yellow flag.

This time, simply picking up the pieces meant winning – winning for the first time in dry conditions since late June.

Verstappen continues to get laughed at for claims and assertions – not all of which made by him personally, of course – that he would have won the world championship in this year's McLaren or Ferrari, the two cars still in contention for the constructor championship.

Yet every single metric shows that he probably would have.

The guy has three times as many wins as the next winningest driver in the car that's third in the constructor standings, while teammate Sergio Perez is on track to become the lowest finishing teammate of a world champion since 1994.

While winning the title with Mercedes may be a stretch, due to the overall inconsistency and mercurial nature of the W15, you do also have to consider the fact that, while driving at any other team, Verstappen would not have to compete against his Red Bull self.

So even if you insert another driver in Red Bull's lineup who can consistently outperform a struggling Perez, there's a very real chance Red Bull would be fourth in the standings, because Perez's gap to Hamilton and George Russell is that wide.

And there's a very real chance that, in a car that's not the fastest, Verstappen would still be able to string together the necessary thirds, fourths, and fifths to get the job done – even if it means going 19 weeks without a single race victory.

The 2024 season proved exactly that.

Brazil proved Max Verstappen is still Max Verstappen.

And Qatar proved both.

The 2024 Formula 1 season is scheduled to come to a conclusion this Sunday, December 8 with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 from Yas Marina Circuit beginning at 7:55 a.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action!