Max Verstappen breaks a 71-year-old record this season and reaches the unbelievable milestone of 500 points
While he has already won his 3rd consecutive world championship title since the beginning of October during the sprint race in Qatar, Max Verstappen shows no signs of stopping winning. He secures his 52nd career victory at the São Paulo Grand Prix and continues to assert his dominance. This is evidenced by these two new records and the milestone achieved by the Dutchman.
Apart from breaking his own record for most wins in a season, which he has already done twice this year, elevating it to 17 victories, Max Verstappen now holds two new records, including the highest winning percentage and reaching the milestone of 500 points in a season.
Indeed, the domination of Max Verstappen is no longer in need of proof this season. With this new victory, he is already breaking a record never seen before in Formula 1, and which is only possible in the era of modern Formula 1 and its points system, surpassing the 500-point mark in the drivers’ standings. With 524 points, he crosses a symbolic and unprecedented threshold, while Lewis Hamilton’s record was 413 in 2019. A record that Verstappen had already surpassed in 2022 with a season at 454 points.
Note that the points system was modified in 2013, with now a possibility to earn 25 points for a victory. In addition to this, the number of Grand Prix races has significantly increased, surpassing 20 races per season. There is also the addition of sprint races, which will now occur 6 times in 2023. Initially, only 3 points were awarded to the winner of a sprint race, but now it has increased to 8 points, giving even more advantage to the Dutch driver. Lastly, an extra point is awarded for the fastest lap during the race, allowing for a slightly higher accumulation of points, bringing the total closer to the 500-point threshold in the 2023 standings.
Max Verstappen breaks a 71-year-old record.
With his 17th victory at Interlagos, Max also sets another record, this time in terms of percentage of wins in a season, with 77.2%. A record over 71 years old. Indeed, the Dutchman surpasses the record of Italian Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari, who, during his 1952 season, won six out of the eight races that comprised the championship at the time. A percentage of wins that Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel could never exceed during their best years.
“When I joined Formula 1, it wasn’t to have a record of 75% victories in a season. That kind of thing happens when everything is working really well. I feel good in the car, it’s very competitive, and the team makes very few mistakes as well. […] So for me, it’s more about simply enjoying the present moment and trying to maximize every opportunity,” he declared in a press conference.
Max Verstappen surpasses Alain Prost’s milestone
In addition to Alberto Ascari’s record, Max Verstappen once again surpasses a legend from Ferrari, this time a much more well-known one. With his 52nd Grand Prix victory, Verstappen overtakes Alain Prost, known as “The Professor,” in the ranking of drivers with the most victories. The next milestone is Sebastian Vettel, with 53 wins in F1. Verstappen could surpass this number as early as this year if he manages to win the last two GPs of the season, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton remains the undisputed leader of the ranking for now, with 103 victories.
