Remembering the record: Verstappen's incredible 10 wins

Verstappen met de trofee na Zandvoort — Photo: © LAT Images

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Remembering the record: Verstappen's incredible 10 wins

Nobody's done it before – and they may never do it again!

Jim Kimberley

Thursday 14 September 2023 14:57

Max Verstappen's record-breaking run of 10 Formula 1 victories is a milestone the sport may never see equalled for a long, long time.

Whether or not you support the relentlessly efficient Dutch driver or not, you've watched history in the making over the past four months.

But how did Verstappen get here when Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton failed?

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Here's the route that the #1 Red Bull RB19 took in the hands of Verstappen to turn the unthinkable into reality.

Max Verstappen's Terrific Ten

Miami - May 7th

It seems strange in hindsight, but the story of this extraordinary record begins with Verstappen level on victories with teammate Sergio Perez.

The two headed to Florida for the second-ever Miami GP with six points separating them in the standings and some hopes that Perez could stage a title fight. How naive we were.

Verstappen stood atop the podium in Florida

Verstappen kicked off his 10-race run from P9 on the grid after Charles Leclerc's qualifying crash triggered an early session end to ruin the Dutchman's final lap.

Undeterred, Verstappen progressed through the order, even with a contrary hard-tyre strategy, and reached P2 by Lap 15 before eventually overtaking Perez with ease on much fresher tyres in the closing laps.

Monaco - May 28th

With the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix's cancellation, Monaco became Formula 1's sixth stop, and all the talk was about whether Mercedes' delayed upgrade could close the gap on Red Bull.

The answer was a resounding 'no', but for Verstappen, it was a faultless weekend, topping all sessions aside from FP1.

The dry-to-wet race didn't impede his progress aside from a barrier-brushing moment at Portier, and he eventually crossed the line 27 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso.

Spain - June 4th

Fully finding his stride by Barcelona, Verstappen scored another lights-to-flag victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Taking pole position by nearly half a second over his nearest rival and local hero Carlos Sainz demonstrated the RB19's advantage in the reigning champion's hands.

While George Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, and Perez squabbled over the podium places, Verstappen won with relative ease out front.

Canada - June 18th

Although Formula 1 somehow found wet weather amid Canadian wildfires, Verstappen avoided a high-profile upset in Montreal's qualifying.

Nico Hulkenberg was 0.244s away from a second F1 pole position of his career, but the championship leader stood in his way.

Aside from some Lap 1 pressure, Verstappen had another unchallenged Sunday drive on the day Adrian Newey marked his 200th Grand Prix victory.

Austria - July 2nd

Of all the races Red Bull would want to win, their home Austrian Grand Prix was it, but Verstappen had to fight for his P1 finish.

Pit stop strategies from Ferrari had Leclerc enjoy some rare time in the lead, but it didn't last long once Verstappen got into DRS range.

Another weekend, another win for Max Verstappen

Even the Sprint Shootout and Sprint victory went Verstappen's way, although he had to fend off Perez in the opening wet stages of the latter.

Britain - July 9th

Whether Lando Norris simply wanted to impress Brad Pitt or McLaren's upgrade package worked better than expected, Verstappen had unexpected company in Silverstone.

Together with standout rookie Oscar Piastri, McLaren formed a two-pronged attack that had Norris lead his home race in its opening moments.

Unsurprisingly, and disappointingly for the home fans, Verstappen took to the top step of the podium, but only after Norris and Hamilton — who benefited from a safety car pit stop — fought him all the way to the line.

Hungary - July 23rd

That British Grand Prix raised hopes that Verstappen was not unbeatable, and Hungary's qualifying ended the Dutch driver's run of competitive-session P1 finishes.

Hamilton took his first pole position since 2021 by 0.003s over Verstappen, with the McLarens again showing incredible pace.

Races are won over 305 km though, not a single lap, and Verstappen flexed the RB19's power to beat Norris by a vast 33.731 seconds.

Belgium - July 30th

An earlier-than-usual Belgian Grand Prix had the Sprint format's return and Verstappen's all-conquering ways with it.

The drying track in qualifying created some unpredictability for Verstappen across Q1 and Q2 when he didn't top the tables. In Q3, though, he took pole by eight-tenths.

Even with a five-place grid drop for a gearbox change, Verstappen topped the Shootout, Sprint, and Grand Prix to start the summer break with eight successive wins.

Netherlands - August 27th

Before Verstappen could beat the all-time record for successive wins, he first had to match it in front of an expectant home crowd.

His P1 Dutch Grand Prix qualification didn't mean much a few laps into the race, though, after a formation lap downpour jumbled up the order.

In front of his own fans, Verstappen delivered

Verstappen made the wrong choice not to pit after the opening lap but still reeled in those who did to match Vettel's nine-race record of successive victories.

Italy - September 3rd

Of all the ways for Verstappen to not take the outright consecutive win record, losing to a Ferrari in Italy would be the most poetic.

For many of the Scuderia, that looked possible from the moment Sainz stormed to pole position on Saturday afternoon.

The Spaniard's staunch defending in the opening laps kept Ferrari's hopes alive a little longer, but Verstappen found his way past to earn his record-breaking victory number 10.

With Verstappen taking all the headlines in the wake of the achievement, it's easy to forget that eight races still remain.

Vettel's record of nine consecutive victories ended with the 2013 season's conclusion, while Verstappen has a third of the year to go.

If nothing aside from external forces can stop a Verstappen victory, there's no telling how long this remarkable run might last.