What was Verstappen's advantage entering the summer break when he won the title?
F1 News
Max Verstappen has won the last three F1 world championships, and also leads the standings this year entering the summer break. But how does the advatanges he had entering the summer break compare to his current lead ahead of Lando Norris? GPblog lists you the Dutchman's lead entering the break every time when he was crowned champion of the competition.
Unsurprisingly so, the biggest gap Verstappen had was in 2023. After 12 Grands Prix were held, Verstappen led ahead of Sergio Perez by 125 points. Out of those 12 races, the three-time world champion managed to win 10 of them.
In 2022, Formula One began their summer break following the Hungarian Grand Prix, after 13 GPs were held. Max Verstappen won the race at the Hungaroring, and he led Charles Leclerc by 80 points in the standings, just by two more than in 2024. However, while McLaren and other teams seem to close the gap to Red Bull Racing in the current season, while in 2022, the Austrians just began to pull away from Ferrari.
The 2021 summer break took place following the Hungarian GP, with 11 races in the books. In F1's last blockbuster season, Verstappen was actually behind Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings at that point, as he was involved in an incident caused by Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton's lead was however just eight points.
What about '24?
Entering the summer break in 2024, Verstappen currently leads Lando Norris by 78 points after 14 Grands Prix. At the Belgian Grand Prix, Lando Norris could not take advantage of the Dutchman's grid penalty, and after making a mistake during the start of the race, he finished behind him at Spa-Francorchamps.
That means, if Norris could win the next three GPs in a row, get the additional point for the fastest lap each time, and Verstappen DNFs every time, the Briton would still be behind Verstappen, because the Red Bull driver would have won more GPs in the current championship.