Red Bull won 21 out of 22 races, a remarkable record. Photo / Don Kennedy
Just how good triple world champion Max Verstappen is remains to be seen.
But after a record-breaking season, he is getting better and better year after year, which must be alarming for his rivals, including his Red Bull teammate Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez, who, in the same car, is no match for Verstappen. Nineteen wins from 22 races with an 86 per cent winning percentage, not to mention four sprint race victories and a third consecutive world championship, will be a tall order for even Verstappen himself to equal or surpass, but the prospect of that shouldn’t be dismissed because, quite simply, he is that good.
The records he set this year include the most wins in a season, 19, breaking the record he set last year of 15. He won pole position in 12 of those races and had nine of the fastest laps. He was on the podium for 21 of 22 races, another record. His only failure was the Singapore GP, but he still finished fifth. Up until Singapore, he won 10 consecutive race victories, a new record, and by the season’s end set a new record of 1003 laps led in a season. And he set a new record for points in a season, the number now sitting at 575 points, beating his own record set last year of 454 points.
It will take a phenomenal season next year to replicate or surpass his success in 2023. In theory, he is capable of winning all 24 races scheduled for 2024, but Verstappen himself is realistic when it comes to predicting success.
“In general, the car has been better than last year,” he said after Abu Dhabi. “We were very solid in [the sense there were] no retirements, no real issues [with] the car, which, of course, is also a big key to that.”
“From my side, every single year, I try to do better – it’s more about just general experience in F1 and trying to put the weekend together a bit more. Some weekends, that works better than others. And then yeah, besides that, [I] just try not to make many mistakes.”
He was asked if the Red Bull has any weaknesses, given the car won 21 out of 22 races.
“Of course there are” was Verstappen’s matter-of-fact reply. “Look at our race weekend in Singapore. In general, on street circuits, I think we struggle a bit more, like in Vegas also.”
“Low speed is definitely not our strongest point in the car; bumps, and kerbs as well, so that is an area [in which] we can improve. We are working on our car to make it better. I think we know our weaknesses, and that’s what we’ll try to work on, plus trying to make our strengths even stronger.”
Verstappen now has 54 Grand Prix wins, having surpassed Sebastian Vettel’s total of 53 with his win in Abu Dhabi. He won the season opener in Bahrain, but lost the next race in Saudi Arabia to Perez. Then it was on to Australia - Verstappen won there on what is essentially a street circuit - then they went to Baku for the Azerbaijan GP, which is definitely a street circuit. Checo won that one and started talking up his championship prospects.
In the next race in Miami, Perez started in pole position, whereas Verstappen only qualified ninth after being denied a second run in Q3 when Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari, bringing out a red flag to end qualifying.
Perez knows that to be world champion, he has to beat his teammate, and despite starting from pole position and leading the race into the closing stages, Verstappen worked his way up through the field, passing Leclerc, Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, George Russell, Fernando Alonso and finally Perez with three laps to go. In the end, he won by 5.3 seconds, and Perez realised his chances of beating Verstappen had taken a big hit.
Verstappen was asked after Abu Dhabi what his three highlights of the year were, and understandably, he started with the Miami GP.
“Well, I think winning the comeback race in Miami was great - I think that was an important one. Winning at home in Zandvoort was a very nice one, and I think winning in Suzuka after the tough weekend we had in Singapore,” he stated.
He was also asked how he stays motivated, given his domination.
“I don’t really think about it too much, to be honest, and [I’m] especially not comparing it to any other sport because it all works a bit differently, I guess. I think in that way, F1 is quite unique,” he explained. “But I love driving - I think that’s first and foremost the most important thing, to be here. And winning is, of course, the best thing in Formula 1, so for me, naturally, the motivation is there, because I know that for most of the races I go to this year, I have a big chance of winning. So naturally, that’s great.”
Four-time world champion Alain Prost, who won 51 Grands Prix, says he appreciates what Verstappen is achieving and thinks it’s great, even though there are a lot of people who don’t like one driver to dominate.
“I looked at it like a fan, as I’m no longer involved with any team,” Prost told Sky Deutschland. “Many have said that it’s negative because a team and driver dominate. I always recognise it when a team drives like Red Bull and Max. When someone dominates like that, it’s the sum of the work that’s needed. You can only say congratulations.”
“You have to work better if you want to get to this level. I understand if it’s frustrating sometimes, but I thought it was great. We all had our driving styles and approaches. Max is still very young, but the focus he has had on his career from the beginning and the passion for motorsport is very important. He always says what he thinks. You don’t often see someone so dedicated to their sport. It’s something special with him; he’s always faster and gains more experience.”
To the victor go the spoils, and Verstappen is now the top earner in F1, according to Forbes magazine, pocketing US$70 million this year, which is $15m more than Lewis Hamilton. Alonso is third on the list, with earnings of $34m. The latter has joked that Red Bull designer Adrian Newey has cost several drivers, including himself, a number of championships, given Newey-designed cars have won 25 championships.
“He’s responsible for 19 drivers over two decades not winning championships,” Alonso told the media, with a smile on his face.
When Alonso drove for Ferrari between 2010 and 2014, he was a three-time runner-up to Vettel in the Red Bull, who was on a championship roll in the same period Alonso was at Ferrari.
Newey told the media in Abu Dhabi the team came close to signing Alonso back in 2013, and he regretted not working with him.
“That’s a regret that that never happened because I have a tremendous respect for Fernando,” Newey said. “We’ve been very close a few times to working together and we spoke about thi - I remember when he published a book a few years ago in Spain, I had the privilege to do the prologue. For me, he’s just an incredible person [and] I was so lucky to work in the same environment as him, even if we never worked together.”
According to Red Bull boss Christian Horner, a member of Hamilton’s team approached him regarding a drive for 2024, before Hamilton had re-signed for two years with Mercedes. Hamilton has denied it, saying: “I’ve not approached Christian; I haven’t spoken to Christian for years and no one from my team has.”
Then he contradicted himself, saying, “He did reach out to me earlier in the year about meeting up”, claiming the message was left on a phone he no longer uses, and that “I just congratulated them on an amazing year and said, ‘Hopefully soon I’ll be able to fight against you guys in the near future’.”
“So, I’m not sure, I think he’s just stirring things,” Hamilton added.
When Verstappen was asked what he thought about the possibility of Hamilton joining Red Bull, he was dismissive.
“I don’t know because it’s not happening. There’s no point [in making] up stories if it’s not happening.”
The grid for 2024 is now complete, with Williams boss James Vowles confirming Logan Sargeant will continue to drive for them next year. But it’s goodbye to Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost, who is retiring after 18 years with the team, formerly known as Toro Rosso. That story and more next week, by which time Verstappen will have collected a number of awards that nobody could say weren’t well-deserved.
The Pumas held on for a 28-24 win in Dublin.