In Jeddah, Verstappen (again) erased a mark from Vettel

With its second place in Saudi Arabia, Max Verstappen became the second driver with the highest number of points scored in the history of the Formula 1. He is now ahead of a certain Sebastian Vettel, from whom he keeps stealing records...

Since joining Red Bull In 2016, the Dutch prodigy forced Wikipedia authors to modify the 'Records' tabs. Most often, his name erases that of the Austrian team's first virtuoso: Sebastian Vettel. To name just a few, since the Dutchman's exploits, the German is no longer the record holder for the number of consecutive victories, the number of laps led in a season and is no longer the youngest F1 winner. In short, little by little, the former driver Ferrari is being wiped off the history books...

Back on the podium for the fifth round of the 2025 season, Max Verstappen scored 18 points on the Corniche circuitHe has now reached 3 points scored in his career, twelve more than Sebastian Vettel, from whom he has taken second place in the standings. At the top, Lewis Hamilton is still far away with a total of 4 units.

An advantageous points system

Don't immediately set your keyboards ablaze with heated comments accusing us of not taking into account the historical variations in points systems. We're getting to that. Since his arrival in the premier class of motorsport, Max Verstappen has benefited from a generous distribution of points – a victory earns 25 points, compared to 10 before 2010 – and a much more packed calendar than he did back then. Thus, the ranking, in which the Dutchman is second, should be nuanced and serves more as an honorary hierarchy than a basis for in-depth and relevant analyses of the discipline.

For comparison, Sebastian Vettel, who made his debut in 2006, should have a more prolific total since his first four seasons did not benefit from the current counting system. Nor does Lewis Hamilton, who made his debut in 2007, although the Briton leads this ranking regardless of the variations in the distribution system.

So, if we do things correctly, Max Verstappen would actually be fourth in the table. Sebastian Vettel would still be on the podium, but in third place, since second position would be taken from him by Michael SchumacherAfter conversion, the Kaiser's career would have totalled around 4 points, and this without taking into account the fact that the calendars were less full (!).

Nevertheless, whether one is nitpicking or not, Max Verstappen's career figures are dizzying, especially when his age (only 27) is factored into the equation. So, barring a change of career, the Dutchman is likely to rewrite the record books a few more times in the coming years...

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