The FIA—Formula 1’s governing body—is the scrutinizing authority in the sport. Over the years, the body has faced a lot of criticism for not being above clamping down on innovations that give an edge to a certain team. When you think about it, F1 is all about innovation, so the fact that the FIA has come under fire for putting a stop to it occasionally doesn’t make too much sense. But it has happened nevertheless. It happened with Renault in 2006 with its Mass Damper. It happened with Mercedes in 2020 with its DAS system. Now, the FIA struck again to clamp down on flexible bodywork—something critics speculated drastically affected Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

Last time out, the reigning champion and his team had a horror show in Singapore. That weekend, the FIA introduced the Technical Directive (TD018) to ban moveable bodywork. Given the RB19’s shocking pace and the TD018, people put two and two together and concluded that the TD was Red Bull’s doom. Well, Verstappen put a stop to all those speculations at the Japanese GP.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull couldn’t be in a better spot

As the Singapore GP got closer and closer, everyone at Red Bull knew it would be a tough weekend. The most challenging it’s had. Not because of the Technical Directive but because of the Marina Bay Circuit’s characteristics. Considering Red Bull had won every race leading up to it, no one thought the championship leaders would be as out-of-form as they were. Looking back to a week ago, Red Bull and Verstappen lost their race-winning streak. It happened. They accepted it and moved on. But their critics didn’t.

As soon as F1 stepped foot in Japan, it all went back to the usual. Verstappen was setting the pace for the rest of the field. With Red Bull back in form, the Dutchman just had to do what he’d been doing—deliver when he had to. Qualifying came and went, and Verstappen—in typical Verstappen fashion—annihilated the competition. He out-qualified Oscar Piastri in P2 by 0.581s and his teammate, Sergio Perez, by 0.773s.

In the post-qualifying press conference, Verstappen was asked, “Does this pole feel like a massive statement of intent from you to right the wrongs of last weekend?” He replied, “We had a bad weekend. Of course, then people start talking about it: ‘It’s all because of the Technical Directives.’ Well, I think they can go suck on an egg!” The fact that Red Bull is back to dominating proves that it was nowhere near doomsday for it. It just means that Singapore was a minor blip in its otherwise unbeatable season.

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Verstappen’s record-breaking run might’ve ended at the Singapore GP. That didn’t stop him from setting another record at the Japanese GP.

Max Verstappen rewrites history once again 

At the Italian GP, the reigning champion became the first driver to win 10 consecutive races. As much as he would’ve liked to continue that streak in Singapore, it just wasn’t meant to be. That race ended a record-breaking streak, and on his way to achieving that streak, he broke numerous records. It got to a point where it seemed like every time he stepped into his RB19, he was coming out of it with another record to his name. His Suzuka outing on Saturday was no different.

After claiming pole position with a whopping 0.581s margin, Verstappen broke a 20-year-old record set by Michael Schumacher. At the 2004 Japanese GP, Schumacher edged out his brother, Ralf Schumacher, by a margin of 0.490s. Two decades later, Verstappen created history at Suzuka once again. Is there anything that can prove a challenge to the soon-to-be three-time champion?

Red Bull has its first chance of winning the Constructors’ Championship this year at Sukuza. Can Max Verstappen deliver another flawless drive to give the Milton-Keynes outfit its sixth title?

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