Max Verstappen shattered records and scripted history with his masterful drive in F1 2023 season.
Max Verstappen after winning the Zandvoort GP (via Imago)
The 2023 season of Formula 1 has come to an end with an extravagant finale in Abu Dhabi. The last race of this year saw several Hollywood celebrities such as Chris Hemsworth, Priyanka Chopra and Naomi Campbell and some sports stars such as Sergio Aguero and Maria Sharapova in attendance. The Yas Marina Street Circuit in Abu Dhabi is the fated place where F1 witnessed history unfold with first-time title challenger Max Verstappen defeat seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton for the 2021 season victory.
Only two years since Max became the #1 racer, he asserted his utmost dominance in the 2023 season. This has entirely been a Red Bull-dominated year as the Austrian team has raked in 21 Grand Prix wins out of the 22 races that were held. And Max Verstappen single-handedly attained victory at 19 races this year, demolishing several F1 records which were created by the legends of motorsports. Never in the history of Formula 1 did anyone achieve 19 wins, thus making the 26-year-old the most successful driver in a single season.
But his record for the highest race win count in a single season is not the only achievement Max unlocked in 2023. The Dutch lion has managed to break all previous F1 records in these fields:
- Highest percentage of wins in a season
- Most wins in a season
- Most points in a season
- Most consecutive wins
- Most podiums in a season
- Most laps led in a season
- Highest percentage of laps led in a season
- Most consecutive wins from pole
- Most wins from pole in a season
- Biggest points gap between 1st and 2nd in standings
- Most consecutive races as championship leader
- Most consecutive points scored
- Most consecutive top two finishes
- Most hat-tricks in a season
- Most pitstops by the winning driver in one race
- Only driver to win 3 times in 1 country
Max Verstappen in 2023:
• 19 Wins
• 21 Podiums
• 12 Poles
• 4 Sprint Wins
• 575 Points
• 9 Fastest Laps
• 1003 Laps Lead
• 2 Grand Slams
• 10 Win Streak
• 290 points ahead of P2
• a 3rd World ChampionshipThe greatest season of all time. pic.twitter.com/UV6JU2LbIC
— Enzo (@Aperta) November 26, 2023
Max Verstappen has led over 1000 laps in 2023, making him the most dominant in this season
No matter the controversies that Max Verstappen as well as Red Bull have been embroiled in, there is no doubt that they have struck the perfect pairing of Max’s mad skills and the RB-19’s ‘rocketship’-like speed. Max has become the ultimate force in F1 that every other racer targets as he has led over 1000 laps in the Red Bull car. Earlier in the year, when Max had already shown his supreme speed, Lewis Hamilton predicted Max Verstappen’s team, Red Bull, would win every remaining race of the year.
Max Verstappen partying in Las Vegas after winning the Grand Prix there (via Twitter)The fact is they (Red Bull) are ahead and most likely have started developing next year’s car already months before everybody else and [are] 100, 200 points ahead in the championship.Lewis Hamilton said about Red Bull’s current F1 dominance, as per PlanetF1.
With the 2023 season win, Max Verstappen equalled his girlfriend’s father, the Brazilian legend Nelson Piquet Sr’s record of winning a World Championship hattrick. And thanks to his resounding win at the Abu Dhabi GP, Max broke his Red Bull predecessor Sebastian Vettel’s record of 54 race wins in a single F1 career. Now, Max awaits another F1 Championship win which would make his title count come at par with Vettel’s.