Double world champion Verstappen raises the bar

SUZUKA, Japan: Max Verstappen won his first Formula One championship amid controversy last year and the second after confusion at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday (Oct 9) but this time there was no argument about the outcome.

The 25-year-old Red Bull driver has enjoyed one of the most dominant seasons in the sport's history with Suzuka the scene of his 12th win in 18 races and four rounds still remaining.

"Max has been truly, truly dominant. That’s our 14th victory (of 2022), a record for us (in a single season), and the way he has driven since the first race," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

"We came back from some difficulties in the first couple of races, but he and the team have just raised it to another level."

The Dutch driver's first title was marked by drama and acrimony as he fought a down-to-the-wire, battle-of-the-generations duel with Mercedes' seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton.

That ended in one of the sport's greatest controversies, with a late change to the safety car procedures leading to a last-lap overtake in Abu Dhabi.

"The first is more emotional but the second is more beautiful," said Verstappen, who won the rain-hit race by a massive 27 seconds.

Buoyed by his 2021 title win over the sport's most successful driver ever, Verstappen has shown metronomic consistency.

"Some of the drives have been just simply outstanding this year under enormous pressure," Horner told reporters after the Singapore Grand Prix.

"He's just constantly delivered."

Adrian Newey, Red Bull's technical head who has designed a string of title-winning cars for three teams in his decades in the sport, said Verstappen had been simply superb.

"In the traffic in Singapore he made a little mistake, but apart from that he’s made