Max Verstappen beats record after record. Is he going to gain even more this season?
Max Verstappen dominates Formula 1. Starting from the 2021 F1 season, the Dutchman has been collecting records to add to the hall of fame of Red Bull Racing. The most recent one was at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The Dutch anthem echoes in Shanghai
With his win in China, and Sergio Perez’s third pace, Verstappen gave another record to Red Bull. From the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix which Sebastian Vettel won, to the one in 2024 with Max Verstappen, Red Bull is on the road to becoming the most successful team of the last 15 years. The team from Milton Keynes is, in fact, getting close to Mercedes.
A first victory in Shanghai for @Max33Verstappen 🏆#F1 || #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/d6c4OXWhOo
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 21, 2024
Red Bull Racing has 117 wins while Toto Wolff’s team has 124 wins, the last one with George Russell in 2022. Verstappen is the author of many of these wins. He has collected 58 victories all on his own. Then, Sebastian Vettel follows with 38 wins, Mark Webber with 9 and Daniel Ricciardo with 7. Sergio Perez has only 5 wins in his time with Red Bull.
With his pole on Saturday, Max Verstappen acquired the first position for the fifth time in a row. With 5 poles in 5 Grand Prix, he’s two steps away from the record for most consecutive poles in a row by Alain Prost (7). His latest pole was also the 100th for Red Bull.
Without any doubt, this is a record that the Three Times World Champion can reach this season.
The man of records
Max Verstappen has been a record-breaking driver since his debut in F1. He was just shy of 18 years old yet when he stepped into a Formula 1 car, becoming the youngest driver ever.
He still holds the record of the youngest driver to win a race, when he stepped on the podium at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
Since then, Verstappen has gone a long way.
FIVE POLES IN A ROW FOR MAX 💪#F1 || #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/IqAFt1r0fG
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 20, 2024
After the intense 2021 season, when he went wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton, he became unstoppable. In 2022, he became the Red Bull driver with the most podiums (66), taking that record from Vettel. During the same season, in Suzuka, Verstappen has his second World Title with 4 races to go still.
With his win at COTA, he gifted Red Bull their fifth Constructor’s Title, breaking Mercedes’ dominance. In Mexico, he broke Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s record of most wins in a season with 14 wins. In 2022, in Abu Dhabi, he surpassed another one; most points scored in a season (454). Previously, this was Lewis Hamilton’s record of 419 points scored during the 2019 season. Last season, he finished with an astonishing 575 points!
The season painted in blue and orange
2023 was the year of Max Verstappen, his most successful season. He gained 10 wins in a row; from Miami to Singapore, the Dutchman dominated every race from the start. This way, he broke another one of Vettel’s records; 9 victories in a row in his time in Red Bull in 2013.
The only driver to break Verstappen’s win streak was Carlos Sainz, the only non-Red Bull first place in 2023.
During the Sprint Race in Qatar, Max Verstappen became a three-time World Champion with six races to go. In the following GPs, he reached 19 wins in a season, another new record in Formula 1 history.
