Max Verstappen has had many extraordinary overtaking races in his career. The 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, for example, where he was rammed by Valtteri Bottas in the opening phase and still managed to get into the points with considerable damage. Or the Russian Grand Prix in the same year, when Verstappen started from last place and through good strategy (and some luck with the rain) still managed to finish on the second step of the podium. But there have been three extraordinary overtaking races where Verstappen actually walked away with the win.

Hungary 2022

Problems with his power unit prevented Verstappen from moving beyond 10th place in qualifying. Ricciardo and Bottas were outsmarted on the first lap, after which Verstappen made his way through the field step by step.

But while Verstappen's speed was impressive, it was mainly the strategy in which Red Bull excelled that weekend - and Ferrari definitely not. Leclerc had the lead in the race and was by far the fastest, but because Ferrari made a questionable choice with the tyres, Verstappen and Russell were able to close the gap to Leclerc. Verstappen had the faster car and was able to pass Leclerc, although he had to give the position back immediately as Verstappen made a 360-degree turn. In the ensuing series of pit stops, Red Bull had it 'best of luck', while Leclerc dropped back to sixth place and Verstappen managed to keep both Mercedes cars far enough behind to take the win.

Belgium 2022

Verstappen started the race in Belgium with a double grid penalty, which did not matter as he had to start from last place anyway to install a new power unit. Fortunately for the Dutchman, more drivers suffered grid penalties, so Verstappen ended up starting from 14th place. Not ideal, although it helped that title rival Charles Leclerc started one place behind him.

Even before the first lap was over, Verstappen had fought his way up to eighth place. A collision between Bottas and Nicholas Latifi led to a safety car on the next lap, which worked out perfectly for Verstappen. The men in front could not get away from him, and the reigning world champion saw his chance. As soon as the safety car went in, Verstappen systematically outsmarted every car in front of him, and by lap 12 Verstappen had taken over the lead from Carlos Sainz. The rest of the race was a breeze for Verstappen: he won with a lead of over 26 seconds over the next car that was not a Red Bull.

Austria 2019

Verstappen started the race in second place, but immediately saw all his rivals pass him at the start. The Dutchman faced problems with anti-stall, which prevented the car from getting out of place properly. By the time Verstappen got his Red Bull going, he was in eighth place.

Only on the ninth lap did Verstappen manage to recover from his lousy start. Unlike the previous races mentioned, Verstappen had a much tougher time here. Although he managed to grab the lead for the first time midway through the race (helped in part by wing damage to Hamilton), he had to pass Bottas, Vettel and Leclerc again due to a pit stop. On lap 50, Verstappen managed to overtake Vettel again and secure at least a podium spot in the meantime.

But more followed: six laps later Bottas also fell and Verstappen found himself back in second place, with only Leclerc's Ferrari ahead of him and 15 laps to go. With five laps to go, Verstappen joined Leclerc for the duel for the win. The battle lasted three laps during which Leclerc put up a strong fight, but a lap and a half before the chequered flag fell, Verstappen managed to take over the lead to take his first win of the season. However, the real party had to wait a little longer: race control took over an hour and a half to decide whether Verstappen's final overtaking move was by the book. In the end, it was still decided in the Dutchman's favour.