Max Verstappen, still record passing times

Everything comes in time to those who wait, as they say in the jargon. And yet, this old adage is in every way opposed to the philosophy of Max Verstappen. The pilot Red Bull, victorious for the twenty-fifth time in his career in Baku this Sunday, continues to pulverize the passing times established before him. It holds yet another record for precocity in this area, well ahead of its still active peers: Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and other Fernando Alonso.

By securing his 25th win yesterday in Baku, @Max33Verstappen has set a new @F1 record 🥇 #ExperienceF1 pic.twitter.com/TOwKqpUV4W

— F1 Experiences (@f1_experiences) June 13, 2022

More than Monza to complete the trophy cabinet

Unlike a certain Charles Leclerc, who is currently struggling to convert his poles into victories (15 poles/4 victories), Max Verstappen is a success machine (14 poles/25 victories). If he demonstrated it once again this Sunday by easily winning in Azerbaijan, after starting from the second row, the Dutchman is on the verge of ticking off all the possible precocity records – except that of youngest champion of the world, which still belongs to Vettel in 2010 (23 years, 4 months and 11 days).

This weekend, he entered the very closed (and prestigious) circle of the ten most successful drivers in Formula 1 – there are 11 in reality – tied with two renowned drivers: Niki Lauda and Jim Clark. The Batavian also holds a record that is not about to be broken, by signing his first success in F1 at 18 years, 7 months and 15 days… for his first Grand Prix under the Red Bull colors in Spain.

With what we could now call the “Verstappen” case law – in 2015, the FIA ​​established a minimum age (18 years) to enter F1, following the arrival of the young 17-year-old driver at Toro Rosso – its record of precocity is kept in a safe place. The Dutchman is also the first (and last?) driver to have gleaned his first points in F1 even before reaching the age of majority, by finishing seventh in the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix. When we tell you that Verstappen doesn't have time for anyone .

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Since his promotion to Red Bull in 2016, Max Verstappen seemed to stall at first, failing to play the leading roles at each Grand Prix. If he was able to seize his chance at the slightest opportunity, the new dimension taken by his team last season now opens the doors to another sphere.

Since this weekend, he has also held the new record for podiums for a Red Bull driver (66), surpassing his illustrious elder, four-time world champion under the same colors, Sebastian Vettel. By climbing onto the box for the first time in Baku, Verstappen now only needs a podium in Monza (Italy) to hold all the trophies on the 2022 calendar. If Hamilton is already on another planet in terms of victories on different circuits (31), the Dutchman is already in good company, with 17 victories gleaned on the different tracks that F1 has been able to cover in recent years – 9 drivers can say the same. Given all the new circuits and Grands Prix that have flourished all over the world in recent years, it is not certain that Verstappen will quickly join the Briton on this subject.

Still, at only 24 years old, Max Verstappen is on the verge of breaking all possible and unimaginable records. When we see that Lewis Hamilton waited until his twenty-ninth birthday to reach the mark of 25 career victories, we have reason to be afraid.