RIDICULOUS F1 records Max Verstappen could break before 2023 ends

Four weeks. That’s how long a break the Formula 1 pack has had to improve their cars as they desperately try to catch up to Red Bull and Max Verstappen.

Such is the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s dominance, though, that it would take a frankly inexplicable breakthrough from one of their rivals between the last race in Australia and the next in Azerbaijan this weekend for the status quo of the 2023 campaign to shift to any meaningful degree.

So far this year Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez have been in a class of their own, piloting machinery which is simply uncontestably fast in a straight line, and which displays a balletic poise through the corners that allows it to scamper away into the distance seemingly at will.

Verstappen’s victories in Bahrain and Australia, combined with his second-place finish in Saudi Arabia, where he crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of the rest of the field despite starting in 15th due to a mechanical failure in qualifying, mean he holds a 15-point lead over his Mexican colleague before the action begins again in Baku.

The 25-year-old’s championship victory in 2022 was already the most dominant in the seven-decade history of the sport, and the signs so far suggest that 2023 could push the boundaries of superiority even further.

So, which records could Verstappen break between now and the end of the season?

Records Verstappen already holds

Firstly, let’s tackle Max Verstappen’s most obvious opponent if he wants to reach new heights in 2023: himself.

The Dutchman has already set a plethora of F1 benchmarks which he could extend throughout the course of the year if his and Red Bull’s dominance at the front of the field holds.

Verstappen’s 15 wins in 2022 were the most ever achieved by a driver in a single season, passing the 13 victories taken by both Michael Schumacher in 2004 and Sebastien Vettel in 2013.

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The 18 podiums and 454 points he earned also put him at the top of the all-time leaderboard for those categories in one year, while his 146-point advantage over Charles Leclerc in the final standings is the biggest margin by which a driver has ever won the title.

New records attainable

Of course, benchmarks set by previous champions could also come under threat if Verstappen is able to stitch together an incredible run of form.

Vettel’s total of nine consecutive wins, racked up at the end of the 2013 campaign in his own uber-dominant Red Bull machine, could fall if Verstappen is able to produce the kind of consistency he demonstrated in the second half of 2022 while avoiding any reliability pitfalls or uncharacteristic errors. Last year, Verstappen notched five successive wins between the grands prix in France and Italy.

It would take an enormous effort, but Verstappen could also secure the most consecutive podiums in F1 history. Schumacher set the standard at a whopping 19 between the 2001 and 2002 seasons as he drove in a class of his own.

Having finished sixth at Interlagos in the penultimate race of the 2022 campaign, Verstappen is currently on a run of four podiums in a row, meaning he would need to maintain his streak until the US Grand Prix in Texas at the back end of October to reach 20.

This one might seem pretty tough, but with 19 appearances on the podium in his last 22 races, don’t rule Verstappen out.

Another stellar Schumacher record is most consecutive races leading the championship, which he set at an eye-watering 37 between the US Grand Prix in 2000 and the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix.

Having been at the top of the standings following every round since last year’s Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen currently sits on 20, meaning he will break the record if he retains his lead until after the Brazilian Grand Prix in November.

Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will become the drivers who have appeared on the most shared podiums if they both finish in the top three together on three further occasions this season. Hamilton and Vettel currently hold that honour, having sprayed champagne in unison 56 times throughout their careers.

What’s more, Verstappen could help Red Bull steal away a team F1 record from arch-rivals Mercedes. The Silver Arrows’ 12 one-two finishes are the most ever achieved in a single season, but Red Bull have already taken two in the opening rounds of the 2023 campaign. If Verstappen and Perez can continue to dominate out front, they could comfortably surpass that figure given the record 23 races scheduled to take place this year.

Rankings Verstappen could move up

Verstappen may not be able to lead of the all-time leaderboards by the end of the season, but he could make significant progress moving up the rankings.

A third world championship, as seems inevitable, would put him joint-sixth in the standings alongside Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham, and Nelson Piquet. Only Hamilton, Vettel, Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio would have won more than Verstappen’s three consecutive titles in that case.

A total of 37 career wins puts Verstappen sixth in the all-time list as things stand, only four behind Senna. With Alain Prost ahead on 51 and Vettel on 53, the Dutchman could potentially rise as high as third if he can take victory in 17 of the remaining 20 races this year.

Verstappen is unlikely to move up the podium rankings though, given he is 21 behind fifth-placed Fernando Alonso, who is likely to earn more of his own this season with Aston Martin.

22 pole positions earned means Verstappen is a relatively low 14th on the all-time list, but with Jim Clark only 11 ahead on 33, fifth place could well be within his grasp before the end of 2023.

With 22 fastest laps to his name too, Verstappen will move beyond Nigel Mansell into sixth if he can achieve nine more this season, which may not be unlikely given he has averaged six in the past two seasons.

Finally, with 1,138 laps left to race in 2023, Verstappen could move up the leaderboard for most career laps led. The Dutchman is currently on 1,956, 135 behind Mansell in sixth, with Prost ahead by 727.

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