The title fight lessons Verstappen can learn from 2021

Max Verstappen's first world title in 2021 will always be remembered for the controversial conclusion to the season, regardless of whether people are Team Verstappen or Team Hamilton.

Forgetting about who won the championship for a moment, several lessons can be taken from that campaign by Verstappen and carried into his current title fight with Lando Norris.

While Norris is a distant 78 points behind the reigning world champion, things changed quickly prior to the summer break - not in Red Bull's favour. 

After Verstappen won four of the opening five races – he retired in Australia following a technical failure – many feared a repeat of last season. However, fast forward to the present day, and it is clear the dominance of last year will not be repeated. 

Upgrades for McLaren and Mercedes have made every race unpredictable as Red Bull no longer has the superior package, an accolade it had boasted since the current regulations were introduced. 

Seven different drivers across four teams claimed a victory in the 14 completed rounds of the season, demonstrating just how strong the competitive F1 is currently sitting. But the big blow for Verstappen and for Red Bull, is that one of those seven different winners is not Sergio Perez. 

It's Verstappen's first lesson from 2021, in that he can no longer rely on the Mexican driver to play a supporting role. Whilst Perez played a crucial role in the closing rounds, it was Verstappen and Hamilton who went head-to-head the majority of the time. 

2021 was Verstappen's first experience of going several races without the support of his team-mate, something he can use to his advantage.

Learning from mistakes

Verstappen and Hamilton had several heated battles, similar to what the Dutchman had with Norris in the Austrian Grand Prix. With McLaren having a package that can consistently challenge Red Bull, Verstappen cannot afford to not finish races. 

With 10 races remaining, Norris could very easily eat into Verstappen's advantage and apply significant pressure on the 26-year-old. However, Norris also needs to stamp out silly mistakes for that to happen. 

Being smart is the key to Verstappen claiming a fourth consecutive world title, a tactic he deployed in the British Grand Prix where he waited patiently and made the right pit stop calls when the weather changed. 

Verstappen fitting the hard compound and easing them into the closing laps was the genius behind him overtaking Norris for second, and coming within a whisker of catching Hamilton for victory. In 2021, the Red Bull driver and Hamilton often pushed each other to their limit. 

He cannot afford to do this with Norris, as any unwanted pit stop or damage could see him drop crucial points. 

As proven in Spa, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari can all compete with Red Bull, making every place gained on one of those teams drivers pivotal. The opposite happened in Hungary, where everything and everyone annoyed the championship leader. 

All it takes is a repeat of Hungary for Norris to take significant points from Verstappen. Verstappen could even consider himself lucky he even has a 78-point lead, with Norris blowning multiple chances for that to be below 50. 

It's not only the drivers' championship Verstappen has to consider, because any mistake by him will further open the door to McLaren in the constructors', should Perez continue to struggle. Verstappen has more pressure on him than ever before in his F1 career despite his healthy lead, something several drivers recognise by not ruling Norris out of the title. 

By learning from 2021 and avoiding collisions and heated battles and instead driving smartly, Verstappen will become a four-time world champion with ease. If he does the opposite, then Norris has a real chance of pulling off a major shock.