The drivers’ and constructors’ championships have already been decided in his favour. Max Verstappen and Red Bull enter the final stage of the 2023 World Cup Five major awards ahead of us and still some incentives. HE Inter-American Circuit Austin (COTA) has a triple opener for American soil this weekend, with Mexico and Brazil to follow. Then a short break to get back into action with the long-awaited premiere in Las Vegas and the usual finale in Abu Dhabi.
Claiming his third title with greater authority than ever, Verstappen competes for a matter of pride and continues to make history. There are plenty of records available in Austin. Considering there is another weekend in the sprint format, ‘Mad’ Max can target a maximum of 34 points and 50th victory of your F1 career.
In Qatar, he sealed the World Cup in the sprint on Saturday and won improbably on Sunday to take his personal record to 14 wins in 17 grand prixes. If the 26-year-old Dutchman repeats the scenario in the United States, will equal his own record of 15 wins per season, accumulated in 2022. And he’ll still have four more opportunities to continue improving.
[Clasificación del Mundial de Fórmula 1]
In the coming weeks, he will reach two legends such as Alain Prost (51 wins) and Sebastian Vettel (53) in the rankings. The effectiveness percentage of the Frenchman is 25.63% and the German is 17.73%. Max is already ahead of both with 27.22%.
And it’s clear We will continue to improve in the remaining part until the end. If he wins all five races, the three-time Red Bull champion will take third place in this classification. Only Lewis Hamilton (103 wins, 31.50%) and Michael Schumacher (91 wins, 29.64%) will be ahead.
Verstappen is also leading Red Bull’s bid to break a seemingly untouchable record. In its glorious phase, Mercedes achieved 19 wins in the 2019 season. The energy drink team has won 16 of a possible 17 this year with five races remaining. And if they can’t have an absolute AGM, it’s because Carlos Sainz stands in their way in Singapore.
Red Bull can of course beat the best McLaren in history with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. The Woking team won 15 of 16 races in 1988 with an efficiency of 93.75%. Red Bull can achieve 21 wins out of 22 to finish the season with the best percentage of all time: 95.45%.
[Calenario de la temporada de la Fórmula 1]
FIA and dominant cycle
The lack of excitement for the 2023 World Cup has led to a notable lack of interest from spectators; This contrasts with the shocking figures F1 has achieved in 2021 and 2022 under the leadership of American company Liberty Media. New regulations introduced by the FIA and FOM last year They predicted more competition on the track, but the reality is very different.
It is true that if it were not for the overwhelming dominance of Red Bull and Verstappen, we would have faced a busy season with four teams (Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren) in constant struggle. But some voices in the paddock say: Perhaps those responsible for the highest category of motorsport should intervene and try to rectify the situation.
FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem says he is open to ideas that will enhance the show but is confident he will not deliberately slow down a team that is doing its job better than others. “Verstappen’s situation has been repeated many times, look at Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. How to stop it? You can’t punish success.”