“That’s 88 races in which I wasn’t on the podium,” commented Max Verstappen on his 100th podium. At 26 years and five months, he is the youngest in “Klub 100”. A day earlier, he passed Alain Prost with his 34th pole position. Not the only records the Dutchman breaks together with Red Bull. The interim result after two of 24 races.
Red Bull: With a real anthem to 115 wins
In 2023, Max Verstappen made history in almost every race: the most races won in a season, the highest win rate, the most laps led, the most points, podiums and victories from pole. There is no end in sight in 2024.
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez achieved the 30th double victory for Red Bull in Saudi Arabia, Photo: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
“Let’s try it, maybe we’ll win a Grand Prix one day,” remembers Dr. Helmut Marko remembers Dietrich Mateschitz’s words exactly. Then there were a few more. In 2009, Sebastian Vettel secured his debut victory in China, and in 2023 Max Verstappen made it to 100 in Canada.
The Austrian national anthem was played for the victorious designer for the 115th time in Saudi Arabia. Actually 114 times, Vettel’s triumph in Shanghai surprised the Chinese so much that “God Save The Queen” was mistakenly played instead of “Land der Berge”.
With a real anthem, Red Bull overtook Williams in Jeddah in the constructors’ all-time victories list with 114 victories. “Not bad for an energy drink manufacturer,” Lewis Hamilton would say. If Red Bull continues like this, their (soon to be) former team could soon be in trouble. His future still has a buffer with more than twice as many victories.
Key figure in Red Bull: Max Verstappen. The combination of the 26-year-old and Red Bull Racing has been giving the competition nightmares since the beginning of the Ground Effect era. The team from Milton Keynes won 40 of 46 races – 36 of them Max Verstappen. For completeness: Sergio Perez (4), Charles Leclerc (3), Carlos Sainz (2) and George Russell (1) also made their contribution.
Max Verstappen: even more unbeatable in 2024?
Verstappen’s 56th GP victory in Saudi Arabia was also his ninth in a row. Once described as Sebastian Vettel’s record for the ages, the Limburger can repeat his own of ten from last year in Australia. If he also wins in Japan (April 5th – 7th), he will be setting off into new spheres with eleven in a row.
In Monza brach Max Verstappen Sebastian Vettels Rekord, Foto: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Until his victory last year, Australia was not a good place for Max Verstappen. In Albert Park he had his last failure to date: After April 10, 2022, Verstappen finished every race – a total of 43. Only Lewis Hamilton’s series of 48 is longer (2018 Silverstone until the Corona-related failure in 2020 in Sakhir).
Of these 43 races, Verstappen only failed to win eight and did not finish on the podium in four. Of these podiums, he only finished third once (in Monaco 2022). Verstappen’s P5 in Singapore 2023 was his worst result since P6 in Brazil 2022. He has won every race since then.
In Bahrain, Max Verstappen achieved his fifth Grand Slam of his career. He therefore has as many perfect races as Michael Schumacher and Alberto Ascari. Only Jim Clark (8) and Lewis Hamilton (6) lead more.
What else is on Max Verstappen’s to-do list? Aside from the fourth world title, there is still potential for record improvement, if at all in qualifying. Sebastian Vettel holds the benchmark with 15 poles in one season. Verstappen’s record is twelve. But: Verstappen turned his last 18 poles into victories across all seasons. For the last time not in Austria in 2022.
Most pole positions in one year
DriverPolesRaceYear1Vettel151920112Mansell141619923Senna13161988Senna13161989Prost1316199312 (among others)Verstappen12222023
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