Verstappen Not Focusing On Surpassing Vettel In All-Time Victory List

Friday, 24 November 2023 at 02:00

Max Verstappen will have a chance to surpass Sebastian Vettel in the all-time victory list at the 2023 Abu Dhabi, but he's not focusing on that.

The two drivers share quite a few things. They both succeeded in Red Bull, and won three consecutive World Drivers' Championships, which the German driver managed to push to four, and at the moment, they share the number of race wins in F1 - 53.

Ahead of the last race of the season at the Yas Marina Circuit, the Dutch driver has a chance to surpass the last World Champion in Red Bull before his 2021 triumph, which he coincidentally sealed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

With both drivers having 53 race victories and Verstappen's number of race wins in 2023 currently at 18, the three-time World Champion can rewrite multiple history books in Abu Dhabi once again.

One of them is extending the best-ever F1 season by a driver to 19 wins and improving his win record to 86.4%. At the same time, he can surpass Vettel in the all-time victory list, but that is not something that he's focusing on, as he said ahead of the race weekend.

Read also

Hamilton Inquired About Joining Red Bull Ahead Of 2023 Season According To Horner

"It’s quite a crazy number, but we’ve also had a crazy, crazy year. It would be very nice, but at the same time I’m very focused on what’s ahead of me, and hopefully also next year we have a competitive car again, and we can really continue that momentum [and] win more races."

With 18 wins in one season, it may be difficult for the Flying Dutchman to remember all of his victories, but it seems that he does, and when asked about the most memorable triumphs in 2023, Verstappen had his favourites.

"I think the comeback race in Miami was great, that was an important one. Winning at home at Zandvoort was a very nice one, and I think winning at Suzuka, after the tough weekend we had in Singapore."