F1 landmarks Max Verstappen is still chasing as Red Bull star enters 2024 season6 F1 landmarks Max Verstappen is still chasing ahead of 2024 season | F1 |  Sport | Express.co.uk

After winning his third successive F1 drivers world title last year, and breaking countless records, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen is on the verge of breaking even more within the sport.

In 2023, the 26-year-old Belgian-Dutch ace wrote his name into the history books several times, picking up his world title and the constructor’s title double. Verstappen became the first driver in F1 history to win three times in one country across a season.

Verstappen had six hat-tricks of pole position, race win, and fastest lap in Spain, Austria, Britain, Japan, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. This put him ahead of Alberto Ascari (1952) and Michael Schumacher (2004) in the all-time list.

He also set a record for the most pit stops by a winning driver in one race, stopping six times during a heated race on his home soil at Zandvoort. This equals Jenson Button’s tally from the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix.

After being outperformed by teammate Sergio Perez in the first four races, Verstappen found his stride and achieved ten consecutive race wins from Miami to Italy. This beat Sebastian Vettel’s previous record of nine set in 2013..

Twelve of Verstappen’s victories came from pole position, surpassing Nigel Mansell and Vettel’s record of nine from 1992 and 2011, respectively. The Red Bull driver’s final score of 575 points out of a possible 620 was also the highest in a season for a driver.

However, considering the different point systems over the years, Verstappen still trails several drivers from the 1950s and 1960s. Ascari achieved a perfect score in 1952 (36/36), and Clark did the same in 1963 (54/54) and 1965 (54/54).

Verstappen has 19 wins, an 86.3 percent return from 22 events. This is more than 10 percent clear of the next-best percentage from Ascari. Red Bull also nearly had a perfect score, only missing out on a win at the Singapore Grand Prix. They won 21 out of 22 races, giving them a return of 95.4 percent, beating the McLaren MP4/4 from 1988.

Verstappen added to his achievements by leading over 1,000 laps in the Abu Dhabi season finale race. He led 75 percent of the time, with Vettel’s record from 2011 being the next best.

But despite all those achievements, here is what Verstappen can still accomplish heading into the 2024 season.

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