For his part, the Dutchman passed all his rivals to become a two-time world champion. But the year 2022 started very much in the red.
At Ferrari, they were rubbing their eyes after putting the best car on the track in a season with new and radical rules. There was talk of a battle between their two drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, for the world title.
Meanwhile, the previous dominators of the hybrid era, Mercedes, stumbled and struggled with porpoising issues, with Hamilton needing massages for his neck every day.
And Red Bull? Well, they weren't flying quite like the previous year, but gradually were returning to their best.
The lack of reliability of the Prancing Horse - particularly the bad strategic race decisions and driver errors - caused them to lose the advantage they'd acquired in the first races. As they began heading backwards, Red Bull fine-tuned its wings with a Verstappen who, little by little, was resembling the champion of last season.
Hamilton, at loggerheads with Verstappen last season, was never really at ease and was even often surpassed by his 'rookie' Mercedes teammate George Russell
And once he arrived, he left nothing for anyone, not even for his partner, Sergio Pérez, even refusing team orders to help his teammate's own ambitions when the title was long decided.
Verstappen notched up 15 wins, the most in the history of a Formula 1 season, although the previous record dated from other years without so many Grand Prix races.
In any case, Verstappen's dominance this year has been tremendous. So the only real fight for much of the tail-end of the F1 season was for second place, something Leclerc celebrated jubilantly as something of a triumph in its own right.
Red Bull also ended Mercedes' dominance in the Constructors' World Championship.
By the end of the season, it was a truly remarkable run by Horner's team, particularly in the context of their difficult start. The team adapted and figured out the virtues of a car that was difficult to drive, moulding it into the best and most reliable on the grid.
