So we all saw that Max Verstappen secured the 2022 World Drivers Title in Japan last time out.
In doing so he wrapped up the title with four races left to spare.
But where does that put him on the list of earliest title wins?
Well the answer, as with everything in F1, is a little complicated.
You have to decide if you want to measure this in terms of absolute number of races left in the season or in relative terms to what percentage of the season had been completed.
Why?
Well as we covered in an earlier blog about the calendar, things are not the same from season to season in F1. Not only are there way more races now than back when it all started in 1950 but also the number of points awarded has changed down the years.
As the points one it too hard to wrap our heads around let's just take a look at the leaderboards for "Most Races Left" and "Earliest in Season Percentage" terms
We'll start off with the one most folk jump to I think, most races left.
We all know that 34 drivers have won the title down the years.
From this group, 8 drivers had won the title with 3 or more races remaining (it would make the blog too long if we went for 2 or more so hence the three - method in my madness).
Max just became the 9th to do this from the group, so let's see where he slots in.
Three races from the end
Jim Clark
Clark did this twice as he won it in 1963 in Italy and repeated the feat in 1965 in Germany. In 1963 he won 5 of the opening 7 races in a 10 race championship and in 1965 he went one better and won 6 of the opening 7 races.
Jack Brabham
Won the 1966 title in Germany after a run of 4 straight wins. This was only a 9 race season though so with his 4 wins coming over races 3-6, this streak clinched it.
Secured the 1969 title in Italy after 6 wins in the first 8 races, and the 1971 in Austria with 5 wins in the first 7 races. Both of these seasons were 11 race championships.
His 1977 championship decider came in Italy. He actually only won 3 races all year in this 17 race championship which is quite the outlier on this list.
Wrapped things up in 2001 at Spa but this was the only time he would seal the title three races from the end. OK, that last statement might be technically correct but read on to see why it's maybe a little misleading. He won 8 of the first 14 that year in a 17 race season.
He did this twice as well. First was in USA in 2015 then again in Turkey in 2020In 2015 it was a 19 race season and he secured 10 wins from 16 to get the title early. In 2020, he was 10 of 14 in the covid-hit calendar which only saw 17 races from the original 22 planned.
As you can see, some drivers have done the "three from the end" thing on more than one occasion.
Moving beyond three races to go, we see the list reduce somewhat.
Four races from the end
Nigel Mansell
Set the record in 1992 at Spa after a run of 8 wins in the first 10 races saw him home and dry with four left to go.
Sealed the title in 2004 at Spa like Mansell after an astonishing record of winning 12 of the first 13 races. He only added one more win that year to finish on 13 out of 18.
Joined the four club back in 2011 at Suzuka after winning 9 of 14 leading up to Japan. He won two more to make it 11 from 19 that year.
As we know, secured his title in Suzuka this year and got to sit in an awesome champions chair. From the 18 races held this year he has won 12 of them.
Five races from the end
Only one driver has ever wrapped things up with a huge FIVE races left to go.
Michael Schumacher
In 2002 he broke Mansell's record by wrapping things up five races from the end in Germany. He won 9 of the first 12 races. After sealing the title he shared the wins with Rubens over the last 5 as the Ferrari team took all 5 with Rubens having 3 wins and Michael another 2.
Earlier we mentioned that absolute races is one way to measure this but given the number of races varies, perhaps relative percentage is also fair.
Here the leaderboard sees some new names feature that did not make it in absolute terms.
As you can see some of the older names now get a shot at the list and Schumacher's 2002 season is squeezed down the list with Clark & Brabham jumping up compared with the absolute view.
With their seasons being so much shorter it was almost impossible to win it with three or more races remaining so percentage is fairer to them.
When looking at relative percentage we see Fangio & Ascari join the list but there are no current champions on this view.
Well, there you have it. Now you can regale people you meet with tales of all the earliest F1 titles.
Will we ever see anyone join or even beat Schumacher's absolute total?
While skill & speed obviously play a huge part in winning races, being consistent requires your reliability to be off the charts as well.
After a couple of hiccups at the start of the season, Red Bull & Max seemed to have all three components needed.
The fourth element is the luck side of things with how your competition fairs from one race to the next. A highly competitive field behind you raises your chances compared to having just one main rival constantly in your rear view mirrors.
If they can avoid the DNFs next year and get some help from the field behind, then maybe Max stands a chance.
Guess we'll find out, but for now attention turn to Austin for the US Grand Prix.
Yee-haw!
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