Max Verstappen Holds an 80-Point Edge Over His Rival in Red and Charles Leclerc’s Only Hope Is Pulling a 2013 Sebastian Vettel

Max Verstappen won a well-deserved maiden Formula 1 World Championship in 2021. However, the triumph was masked by that ill-fated Safety Car fiasco. In 2022, however, Verstappen aims to silence his critics. As things stand, this year has been one of the most dominant performances we’ve seen in a while from a Formula 1 driver. Can Charles Leclerc overturn this?

Max Verstappen walks into the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend with a massive 80-point Championship lead. In a recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, Tom Clarkson, Damon Hill, and Natalie Pinkham discussed what it would take for second-placed man Charles Leclerc to overturn this deficit.

According to Clarkson, you “do not need to be a top stat man” to know that an 80-point deficit has never been broken before. When quizzed whether Leclerc still has a chance, he replied, “If Charles Leclerc does what Sebastian Vettel did in 2013 and wins every race after the summer break, he can still win the world championship.” 

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If Leclerc fails to do so, Verstappen may win the Championship “as early as the Singapore Grand Prix” according to the podcast hosts. However, there is still one man who probably believes that Leclerc has a chance.

What does Charles Leclerc need to do to beat Max Verstappen in 2022?

Let us refresh your memory and take you back to 2013. The Formula 1 summer break was just over. We had 9 races remaining. And Sebastian Vettel won all of them! Starting from the Belgian Grand Prix of 2013 to the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo, Vettel won it all.

Charles Leclerc needs to put his Sebastian Vettel face on and repeat this feat if he wants to be in with a chance of taking the crown home. It should not be a foregone conclusion though, Leclerc has partnered with Vettel at Ferrari and probably learned a thing or two. Further, according to the 4-time World Champion, the Monegasque is “the most talented driver I came across in 15 years of F1.”.

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Will Charles Leclerc and Ferrari be able to put a stop to this Max Verstappen dominance? Or will this record set by Sebastian Vettel never be matched?