Ever confident in his own abilities, Max Verstappen has enjoyed a burgeoning sense of self-belief since taking his first Formula One championship last season. Yet surely even he could not have expected to exert quite the iron grip he has exercised this year in a title defence that could be wrapped up this weekend in Singapore.
The Dutchman and his Red Bull team have been so dominant this season the championship is in his hands and he could clinch it at Marina Bay on Sunday to join a rarefied group of F1 drivers. With a 116-point lead over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Verstappen will be world champion if he wins and takes the fastest lap, as long as Leclerc finishes no higher than eighth and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez does not make the podium.
