Usually, those athletes who are capable of transcending their specialty to the point of being seen as phenomena maintain the tension and sacrifice fueled by the ego; for that feeling that causes them to be able to manifest their superiority. In Formula 1, most world champions share that trait. Lewis Hamilton no longer competes to win, but to make history, and Max Verstappen wants to be remembered as the one in charge of breaking the hegemony of the British and Mercedes, to the same extent that it happened before with Fernando Alonso, when (2005) he put an end to the roller Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, five consecutive titles between 2000 and 2004.
The previous names also share another trait: the bad milk they project when they consider that the car they drive does not offer the necessary features so that they can unleash their full potential. If we take into account the volcanic personality of Verstappen, Red Bull is lucky to have Adrian Newey, one of the most influential engineers in the World Championship, and the most decisive piece in the design of the car with which the Dutchman was proclaimed two-time champion in Suzuka, and the energetic team celebrated the constructors’ title in Austin last week.
There, at the Circuit of the Americas, Mad Max accumulated his 13th victory of the year and put himself on the same level as Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013). This Sunday, at the Hermanos Rodríguez circuit (9:00 p.m., Dazn), in Mexico, the Dutchman will seek his 14th victory of the course to distance himself from the two Germans, and thus become the most fruitful pilot in the same exercise. He will do so with the advantage of starting first –sixth pole position for him–, after a qualifying session in which Carlos Sainz finished fifth and Fernando Alonso ninth. To achieve his goal, Verstappen has the best car on the grid in global terms, even though the Ferrari adds more pole position (12 to seven of Red Bull). True to that coldness that characterizes him, the boy from Hasselt affirms that he is not conditioned by the possibility of adding another record to his collection. “Obviously I am proud to have won so many races. But I don’t pay attention to these kind of statistics. In addition, it is not entirely fair if we take into account that the championship is getting longer and longer”, declares the great dominator of this 2022.
Newey has done it again. Taking advantage of the window of opportunities that he offered the wiggle that was given to the technical regulations, especially in the area of aerodynamics, which is what he dominates, the technician has projected the sharpest car of all; capable of prevailing in 15 of the 19 stops on the calendar played to date, and with a margin to achieve 18 of 22. If between Verstappen and Checo Pérez, his workshop neighbor, they achieve a plenary session in the three remaining appointments before the Great Circus closes the curtain in Abu Dhabi (November 20), the percentage of efficiency of the prototype of the red buffalo will be fixed at 81.2%; that is, that he would win eight out of 10 events. The ratio of the RB18 places it as the eighth most effective car ever, although at this point it is worth noting that an exercise with 22 tests had never been organized. Just ahead, in seventh place (83.3%), is the Ferrari with which Schumacher took his last crown, in 2004, winner of 15 of 18 grand prix.
The first on that list is the McLaren MP4/4 with which Ayrton Senna won the first of his three titles, in that explosive 1988 in which his relationship with Alain Prost was blown up. The brain that invented that wonder with which the Brazilian and the French shared 15 of the 16 victories that were put into play (93.7% effectiveness) is none other than Newey.
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