The Red Bull driver, who wants to permanently etch his name into the Formula One record books, might accomplish both in the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Max Verstappen prioritises winning over setting records.
The Red Bull driver, who wants to permanently etch his name into the Formula One record books, might accomplish both in the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen can beat Sebastian Vettel’s F1 record of nine consecutive victories after matching it at the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend.
However, the 25-year-old is only concerned with one thing: winning.
Verstappen remarked, “I mean, I never anticipated that I would win nine in a row, first of all. Yes, of course I’ll strive to win 10, but my main goal is to simply win now that we are here. Verstappen recalls how amazed he was as a youngster when he witnessed Vettel accomplish that accomplishment in 2013. At the time, Red Bull was in the midst of its first dominant period, and Vettel set the record most consecutive victories with Red Bull. He won four straight championships.
“I recall thinking ‘Wow, that’s just a crazy number’ when he did it. Nobody will ever do something like that, in my opinion, Verstappen remarked. “And now here we are, but I’m also not really too fixated on it.” In a season where Verstappen is utterly dominating, few would wager on him improving that “crazy number” at Monza.
As he pursues a third consecutive world championship, last weekend’s victory boosted his enormous championship lead to 138 points.
Verstappen also went onto 46 victories overall, which is already fifth all-time, and got even closer to his own F1 record of 15 victories achieved last year. With nine races remaining, he has Vettel (53) and Alain Prost (51) in his sights.
And despite still being relatively young, Verstappen is already being discussed as one of the all-time greats.
Verstappen remarked, “Well, I mean, everyone, of course, has their own view about these kind of things. “But as for me, I’m not — I was never — in F1 to try and prove that I belong in between other people’s names. ” Verstappen has not performed well at the Italian Grand Prix in the past, despite ending his winless streak at Monza the previous year. This could work to his competitors’ advantage this weekend. Verstappen had never placed higher than fifth before claiming victory at the Temple of Speed, which occurred in 2018.
Although Verstappen seems unstoppable and Red Bull has won every race this season, some believe the team will struggle at Monza, the fastest track on the schedule.
Verstappen not.
People are free to wish for things of this nature, but in his opinion, this is the right course for us. SPLIT TO PEREZ
Just as Verstappen is destroying the drivers’ championship, unbeaten Red Bull is leading the constructors’ standings.
With more than twice as many points as second-place Mercedes, the team is going for a record-extending 15th straight victory on Sunday.
Verstappen has won 11 of the 13 races so far, earning the majority of those points, while teammate Sergio Pérez has only claimed two triumphs.
It’s challenging to be his teammate, Pérez admitted. “Whatever has happened, whether we have excellent margins or negative margins, or whether the car is getting harder, doesn’t really matter. Almost every weekend, he has been able to get 100% of him out of the car.
Pérez won twice in the first four races, but since then, his season has crumbled, and even though he was driving the same vehicle, he qualified for the Dutch Grand Prix 1.3 seconds behind Verstappen.
In the midst of the season, Perez admitted, “I definitely went through a bit of a rough patch where I was struggling the most with the car.” But I believe that is all in the past, and going forward, we ought to have successful contests.
FUMBLING FERRARI
In recent years, Ferrari hasn’t had the greatest of fortunes at its home circuit, providing nothing to cheer about for the hordes of red-clad local supporters, or “tifosi.”
The Scuderia won in 2019 thanks to Charles Leclerc, but that was its first victory since 2010.
Last year, Leclerc came very close, but he came in second because to another dubious Ferrari strategy choice.
