Max Verstappen is locked into his toughest streak in years

While Max Verstappen claimed victory in the F1 Sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, he only managed a fourth-place finish in the main event on Sunday. Verstappen started in P4 when the lights went out, and while he gave it every effort to chase down Charles Leclerc in the final laps of the race, that effort came up short, and Verstappen was left to watch a Grand Prix podium celebration without him for the third race in a row.

Something that has not happened in his career since before he became a F1 Drivers’ Champion.

After finishing second in the Canadian Grand Prix in June, Verstappen has now gone three grands prix without a top-three finish, for the first time in his career since 2019. Verstappen was knocked out of the Austrian Grand Prix on the opening lap after rookie Kimi Antonelli slid into him, and then he finished fifth in the British Grand Prix.

Factor in the fourth-place finish at Spa, and you have three grands prix outside the top three.

The last time that happened to Verstappen came back in 2019, starting with the Russian Grand Prix.

Yes, at a race that is no longer on the calendar.

Verstappen finished fourth in that race, behind the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, as well as Ferrari’s Leclerc. Then at the next race, the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen retired after 14 laps due to damage his RB15 suffered in an opening-lap collision with Leclerc.

At the next race, the Mexican Grand Prix, Verstappen captured pole position and started at the front of the pack. But contact with Hamilton on the opening lap dropped both drivers back through the field. Then on Lap 4, Verstappen attempted an overtake of Bottas, making contact with his Mercedes on the pass, which caused Verstappen’s RB15 to suffer a punctured rear tyre.

However, Verstappen’s tire did not fully deflate until he passed the entry to pit lane. He tried to wind around the entire circuit with a deflating tire, which eventually came off, forcing him to complete the lap with three tires.

When he came back out from his subsequent pit stop, he was down in P20, 30 seconds behind Romain Grosjean in 19th place.

But Verstappen made a one-stop strategy work for him, working his way through the field as other drivers, including teammate Alexander Albon, made multiple stops. When Daniel Ricciardo pitted on Lap 50, Verstappen inherited sixth place, where he would ultimately finish.

Of course, many drivers on the grid would love to have a “down” three-race streak like this, with a pair of top-six results or his current run with a pair of top-five results, but that might just speak to Verstappen’s brilliance over these past six seasons.

For those wondering, Verstappen returned to the podium in the following race, the 2019 United States Grand Prix, where he finished third. He closed out his 2019 season with a win in the Brazilian Grand Prix, and a second-place finish in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Will he secure three consecutive podiums over the next three races?

That quest begins this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix.