Formula 1 fans believe the history books are showing signs of repeating themselves all over again.
The 2022 season has been all about Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and his historic run to a second straight championship crown.
Watch Every Practice, Qualifying & Race of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship™ Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Verstappen has obliterated countless records on his run throughout the 2022 season.
The 25-year-old broke the record of most wins in a single Formula 1 season, previously held by Michael Schumacher (2004) and Sebastian Vettel (2013), when he recorded his 14th win at the Mexico Grand Prix. To be fair to Schumacher and Vettel, there were 18 and 19 races respectively when they set those records, there is one race left on the 22 race calendar in 2022.
His domination has seen him only fail to make the podium on five occasions and saw him break Lewis Hamilton’s record for most points in a single season. Hamilton scored 413 in 2019, Verstappen with one race remaining currently sits on 429.
But fans have pointed out eerie similarities to Formula 1 history which show Verstappen and Red Bull’s domination on the grid won’t extend into next season or beyond.
In an video that’s been viewed close to 2 million times, The Lockout Podcast uploaded the conspiracy theory that F1 is set to follow in recent footsteps.
“Is Formula 1 history repeating itself?” one of the shows hosts says.
“In the past we’ve seen a seven time world champion be eclipsed by a 24 year old driver who wins two titles in a row.
“After that, we have a driver in a Ferrari with six years experience win a title.
“Then a British youngster in a Mercedes wins a title. Then another British youngster in a competitive car wins the title.”
Here’s what unfolded back in 2004 all the way through to 2009.
Michael Schumacher won his seventh world title in 2004 before a then 24-year-old Fernando Alonso won back-to-back titles.
In 2007 it was Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari winning it all before Lewis Hamilton won in 2008 with McLaren.
The year after that it was Jenson Button in the Brawn, who have now become Mercedes.
Let’s now fast forward to where we’re currently at.
In 2020 Hamilton won his record-equalling seventh world title before a then 24-year-old Verstappen won back-to-back titles.
That takes us to the present day so if the theory rings true, it means a Ferrari driver with six years of experience will win it all in 2023 and that man is Charles Leclerc.
In 2024 it would be McLaren’s turn to reign supreme with Lando Norris the successor. Then it swings back to Mercedes with George Russell winning in 2025.
Leclerc showed promising signs of making the 2022 title fight a down to the wire battle in the early stages of the season, but Ferrari continually shot themselves in the foot with bizarre strategy decisions.
Many pundits believe Mercedes will bounce back in 2023 after showing major signs of life in the latter half of the 2022 season.
While it may seem far fetched, thanks largely to Verstappen’s utter dominance, it isn’t that far fetched to see Leclerc pushing for title glory.
Where it gets a bit sceptical is the following season with McLaren standing atop the world. The Woking based outfit have won one race in nine seasons.
Verstappen will enter the 2023 season as the raging favourite to make it three straight, but if you believe in history repeating then Leclerc is your man.
