The mind-blowing stats that underline Verstappen’s dominance،
The Formula 1 media are gradually running out of adjectives to describe Max Verstappen’s dominance this year, but the statistics from his phenomenal 2023 season speak for themselves.
Below is a list of some of the most stunning records set during Red Bull’s drivers’ title campaign this year, along with the context in which they fit into the sport’s history books.
Racing victories
The record: With 19 victories, Verstappen erased the previous record for championship victories, which he himself set at 15 last year. The previous record was 13 since 2004 for Michael Schumacher’s final championship year with Ferrari and was equaled by Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull in 2013.
The context: Only 17 drivers in the history of the sport have achieved more than 19 victories in their F1 career, let alone in a single season. A number of surprisingly big names have failed to achieve 19 wins in their careers, including Stirling Moss (16 career Grand Prix wins), Jenson Button (15 wins), Emerson Fittipaldi (14 wins) and Alberto Ascari (13 victories).
Of course, in Moss and Ascari’s era, there were often no more than eight championship rounds per year (including the Indy 500) and many non-championship races that they won in the lead.
It is also true that there haven’t even been 19 races in a season for the vast majority of F1’s history, with the first 19-race calendar taking place in 2005 and a 19th race only becoming a fixture. You regular only from 2010. However, winning 19 races in a single season is almost unheard of and also accounts for more than 35% of Verstappen’s career victories, which now stand at 54.
Win percentage
The record: Perhaps a fairer way to compare dominance in a single season over multiple decades is by winning percentage. Verstappen has won 86.35% of races in 2023, eclipsing the record previously held by Ascari from 1952, which stood at 75% (six of eight races that year).
The context: Even considered as a percentage, one could argue that comparing Ascari’s eight-race season (one of which was the Indy 500 in which he did not compete, raising his true percentage to 87.5%) and Verstappen’s 22-race season is pretty tenuous. A more modern example – which just happens to be third on the list of highest winning percentages in a season – is Michael Schumacher’s 72.22% in 2004, which saw him win 13 of 18 races that year.
Points
The record: Max Verstappen has scored 575 of the 620 points on offer in 2023 – another new record that eclipses the 454 points he scored last year and the previous record of 413 held by Lewis Hamilton from 2019.
The context: Considering the changes to the points system over the years and the evolution of the calendar (including the addition of points sprint races), the number “575” doesn’t mean a huge amount. However, when we consider that Verstappen scored 92.74% of the points on offer, it helps to underline the level of his dominance in a historical context.
Additionally, Verstappen scored more than double the points of teammate Sergio Pérez (284), who finished second in the Drivers’ Championship, and 166 more than the Mercedes team as a whole, who finished second behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship. Added to that, Verstappen’s record at the Belgian Grand Prix in July (before F1’s summer break) would have been enough to secure this year’s title.
Consecutive victories
The record: Verstappen won 10 races between the Miami Grand Prix in May and the Italian Grand Prix in September, breaking the record of nine held by Vettel since 2013.
The context: Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff described the record as nothing more than a Wikipedia entry, but the vast majority of the F1 paddock recognized the true meaning of going 10 races unbeaten. Arguably the record was somehow linked to Pérez’s inability to fight in the sister car, but the dominance and reliability of the Red Bull/Verstappen package should not be underestimated .
The race ended at Red Bull’s only bogey circuit, Singapore, before Verstappen racked up seven more in a row to end the season – a number he could very well extend to a new record in 2024 .
Title decider
The record: Verstappen won this year’s title in October’s Qatar Grand Prix sprint race, meaning there were still six grands prix (including Sunday’s grand prix in Qatar) remaining. The record for winning the title with the most remaining grands prix matches Michael Schumacher’s record of six from 2002, despite a different points system and four fewer races in 2002.
The context: Verstappen became the first F1 driver in history to win a title in a sprint race, adding a touch of specialness to his remarkable season. F1’s short format also meant there were more points up for grabs in the final six rounds, with sprints also taking place in the US and Brazil rounds, which only added to the gravity of his achievement and the difficulty of obtaining it so early in the season.
Sprint format or not, winning with a quarter of the grands prix to go is always an impressive feat.
Largest and average winning margin
The statistics : Verstappen’s biggest winning margin of the year came at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished 33.731 seconds ahead of Lando Norris in second place. His average winning margin over his 19 victories (minus the Australian and Dutch Grands Prix where late red flags reduced his advantage) was 13.363 seconds. Neither do the records, but the statistics say a lot about his domination.
The context: Verstappen has won six races by more than 15 seconds this year and there have only been eight occasions where he has won by less than 10 seconds. In most cases, however, he was not threatened and could therefore choose to increase or reduce the gap as he pleased – and often depending on whether his race engineer thought a late safety car might put his victory in danger.
The truth is that we will never know exactly what the average gap to second place would have been if Verstappen had pushed to the max in every race, but you can guarantee it would be much higher than 13.363 seconds.
