Verstappen Could Break Another Record Already At Japanese Grand Prix

Wednesday, 28 February 2024 at 12:00

Max Verstappen could break his incredible record from last year during the fourth race of the 2024 season.

In 2023, Max Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel's record (9) for the most consecutive Grand Prix wins when he won 10 race weekends in a row between the Miami Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix.

The triple World Champion could have been at an insane number of 18 consecutive Grand Prix wins had he won the Singapore Grand Prix (which was, in fact, the only race that Red Bull didn't win).

A big part of his success was his unbelievable consistency, raw speed, perfect reliability, race strategies, and Red Bull's dominant RB19. If Red Bull gave the Dutchman another dominant car in 2024 that wouldn't struggle with reliability issues, we could see Verstappen extend his winning streak.

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The 26-year-old has won every race since the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, and he is currently on a streak of seven wins in a row. If the Dutchman won the first four races of the season, he would break and extend his own record to 11 consecutive Grand Prix wins.

How likely is it to happen? The first race weekend of the season hasn't started yet, but the pre-season testing reactions of drivers and teams suggest Red Bull does have another super quick car.

Various people gave different estimates, but the most conservative one came from Helmut Marko, who suggested the RB20 might be faster by three-tenths per lap than the second-best car on the grid.

Three-tenths a lap is around 17 17-second advantage over a race distance of 57 seven laps at the Bahrain Grand Prix- the first race weekend of the season.

While it is too early to say we are in for another dominant season this year, three-tenths of pace advantage combined with Verstappen's speed and consistency might result in the extension of the Dutchman's winning streak.