Has Formula One world champion Max Verstappen peaked already?

Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen is the premiere driver in Formula One today, winning three consecutive world championships in dominating style.

His stretch over the last three years has been the best-ever scene in racing, winning 44 of the 66 races since the 2021 season began, including a record-breaking 19 wins in 2023.

According to the Formula One website, the Dutchman and Red Bull looked invincible in 2023, winning 21 of the 22 races and Verstappen leading 1003 out of 1325 laps.

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However, in recent weeks, cracks have started to show at Red Bull, and Verstappen has begun to let his lead and dominance slip at the summit of Formula One.

The world champion has won five of the eight races so far this season, but in the last three races, Verstappen has lost two of them. The first was to McLaren's Lando Norris in Miami, and the most recent was Charles Leclerc in Monaco.

Norris, in his upgraded McLaren, benefitted from an ill-timed safety car and used it to gain the lead, rushing away from the helpless Verstappen. In Monaco, a mistake from the Dutchman in Q3 meant he started sixth and finished there in the last race.

The drop in form for Verstappen and Red Bull has meant the gap has closed at the top of the Formula One standings, with Leclerc only 31 points behind Verstappen in the Drivers Championship.

According to Sportskeeda, Jos Verstappen, Max's dad, specified how everything has to be perfect to win one race in Formula One.

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"Yes, you see that this year, it's more challenging to make a difference with the competition closing in. Every weekend, you have to perform at 100%. Everything has to be right, from being fit to working well with your engineer. It's all about the details."

During the same interview, when asked if his son has peaked in Formula One, Jos Verstappen couldn't deny his son's best racing days may be behind him.

"That's a difficult question to answer. With experience you can improve, but can he get much better? I don't know. I think Max was ready to be a world champion at 21."

In this short amount of time, it's hard to quantify if Verstappen has peaked already. Still, as the gaps close and the other drivers attempt to reach their ceilings, it may be more difficult for the Dutchman to reach seven world championships like his competitor Lewis Hamilton.

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