Five winless races in a row: Has Max Verstappen peaked already?

It's been typical of Max Verstappen to win in the span of three Grand Prix since 2021. However, the most recent stretch of the 2024 season has been quite the opposite, going winless in the past five race weekends.

McLaren's Lando Norris silenced Max Verstappen's 'orange army' at the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing 22 seconds ahead of the Red Bull driver, who finished in second place.

The past three Formula One seasons have been nothing short of remarkable for Max Verstappen, but has the 2024 season been the start of his demise at the summit of the sport?

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Verstappen is the premiere driver in Formula One today, winning three consecutive world championships in dominating style and currently leading the F1 Drivers' Championship.

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.

In recent months, 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.

Since his victory in China on the 21st of April, the flying Dutchman has won three of the next ten races, with Mercedes and McLaren being as equally competitive as the Red Bull car.

The drop in form for Verstappen and Red Bull has meant the gap has closed at the top of the Formula One standings, with Lando Norris only 70 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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