What started out as a close battle between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc for this year’s world championship has turned into nothing more for the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen could wrap up the championship at the next round in Singapore, with five races remaining. And as he collects his second title, Verstappen is likely to surpass a few famous F1 records.
It is a far cry from last year, when the title fight came down to the final race of the season. As the final rounds of 2022 approach, rather than wondering who might take the title, the question is how much will Verstappen’s inevitable victory crush?
Most of the points
* He didn’t win a championship.
Verstap needs to take more than half of the points in the final six rounds to break the record for the most points scored by a driver in a single season. That’s certainly in his hands: he’s scored 127 of 130 points in his last five contests.
The record for most points scored in a single season is currently held by Lewis Hamilton. In the year He scored 413 points in 21 races in 2019, one round less than this year. Verstappen has the advantage of three short races to earn extra points and has secured the top two points so far, with one more to follow in Brazil.
But the 2023 F1 calendar looks set to feature 24 races and the series is looking to add three more sprint events, meaning more points will be up for grabs next year. Verstappen may not be able to crack the 500 barrier this season – he’ll end a perfect run of 499 over the last half-dozen laps – but that target isn’t far off.
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The biggest winning margin
Over the first six decades, the win rate rose from eight points to nine and finally 10. Then in 2010, he shot up to 25, which meant he had much bigger points and winning margins.
Sebastian Vettel scored the most emphatic title win in raw points in 2013, a season that had a lot in common with this one. The race got off to a competitive start: Vettel was one of four drivers to win the first six races. But after the summer break, Red Bull took over and Vettel was never beaten.
By then, Vettel had extended his lead from 28 points to 155 points over eventual finalist Fernando Alonso. Now Verstappen, 116 points to the good of Charles Leclerc, has a chance to improve on this. Not only did Verstappen have the pace to beat, but Leclerc has only taken two stage wins from his last five starts.
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Most will win at some point.
Michael Schumacher’s record for most wins in a single season was extended to 13 in 2004, when the calendar was 18 races longer. With 22 races to go this year, Verstappen clearly has a chance to win that, but if he wins the next two races, he can match Schumacher’s record of winning 13 of 18 races.
Fastest round in a season
Verstappen could also take the record for fastest lap in a season, but it’s a tough ask. He has five, the most of any driver this year, but needs to sweep the remaining six to win the record.
For drivers claiming the bonus points that come with it, this record is likely to remain in the hands of Schumacher and Kim Raikkonen, who each have 10 fastest laps. While Schumacher set the record in 2004, Räikkönen equaled it in 2005 and 2008 – unusually neither year in which he won the world championship.
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The longest journey
It took Alberto Ascari six decades to match his feat of winning nine races in a row. The Ferrari driver went undefeated in every race he entered from the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix until the same race a year later, while also failing to enter the Indianapolis 500 and counting for the world championship.
Finally, in 2013, Vettel entered and set an Ascari record by winning nine consecutive rounds. That victory ended the era of the F1 V8 engine. Vettel’s latest Red Bull wasn’t the primary threat when the field regrouped at the start of the V6 hybrid turbo era, and he finished the season without a win.
Red Bull are back on top today and Verstappen has a good chance of matching and surpassing Ascari and Vettel’s records. For proof of that, look at where he’s picked up his last five wins. Only one point was scored from pole position, while the others dropped all the way down the grid, coming in seventh, 10th and 14th. He has won from seven different starting positions this year – a record in itself.
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The first winning record could not be reached
One notable record that Verstappen will not be able to achieve this year is a first finish in the championship. Schumacher’s career remains the norm, having locked up the crown before August.
Two decades ago, Schumacher won the world championship on July 21. This was the first conclusion to the title in terms of the day and the rest of the races: there were still six rounds to go.
to you
Which of these records do you think Verstappen has the best chance of beating? What does his dominance say about him and Red Bull’s performance this year? Give your opinion in the comments.
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