Berger rates Verstappen over Senna

F1 News: Mika Hakkinen explains why Verstappen is the best

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have been the dominant duo of Formula 1 in the 2020’s. But does Max dominate just because the car and team are so good?

“I don’t think so,” says Mika Häkkinen.

“Max is something special.”

Hakkinen explains all the things Verstappen has done along with the Red Bull engineers to make the car as fast as possible.

He explains that it is not all about the car because teammate Sergio Perez cannot match Verstappen’s pace.

Verstappen is just at another level in all areas, developing his skills starting at a very young age in go-karts.

In the dry.

In the wet.

Under the hot sun

Or under the bright lights at night.

Verstappen is just unbeatable.

Tracking Verstappen’s Record Run

Destined to beat them all

At Age 26 Michael Schumacher 19 F1 wins
At Age 26 Ayrton Senna 2 F1 wins
At Age 26 Lewis Hamilton, 17 F1 wins
At Age 26 Max Verstappen 54 F1 wins + 7 Sprint Race Wins

All-time F1 Race Winners

  1. 🇬🇧 Lewis Hamilton – 103 wins
  2. 🇩🇪 Michael Schumacher – 91 wins
  3. 🇳🇱 Max Verstappen – 54 wins (plus 7 Sprint Race wins)
  4. 🇩🇪 Sebastian Vettel – 53 wins
  5. 🇫🇷 Alain Prost – 51 wins
  6. 🇧🇷 Ayrton Senna – 41 wins
  7. 🇪🇸 Fernando Alonso – 32 wins
  8. 🇬🇧 Nigel Mansell – 31 wins
  9. 🇬🇧 Jackie Stewart – 27 wins
  10. 🇬🇧 Jim Clark – 25 wins
  11. 🇦🇹 Niki Lauda – 25 wins
  12. 🇦🇷 Juan Manuel Fangio – 24 wins
  13. 🇧🇷 Nelson Piquet – 23 wins
  14. 🇩🇪 Nico Rosberg – 23 wins
  15. 🇬🇧 Damon Hill – 22 wins
  16. 🇫🇮 Kimi Raikkonen – 21 wins
  17. 🇫🇮 Mikka Hakkinen – 20 wins
  18. 🇬🇧 Stirling Moss – 16 wins
  19. 🇬🇧 Jenson Button – 15 wins
  20. 🇬🇧 Graham Hill – 14 wins
  21. 🇦🇺 Jack Brabham – 14 wins
  22. 🇧🇷 Emerson Fittipaldi – 14 wins
  23. 🇮🇹 Alberto Ascari – 13 wins
  24. 🇬🇧 David Coulthard – 13 wins
  25. 🇺🇸 Mario Andretti – 12 wins
  26. 🇦🇷 Carlos Reutemann – 12 wins
  27. 🇦🇺 Alan Jones – 12 wins
  28. 🇫🇮 Valtteri Bottas – 10 wins
  29. 🇦🇺 Mark Webber – 9 wins
  30. 🇦🇺 Daniel Riccardo – 8 wins
  31. 🇲🇽 Sergio Pérez – 6 wins (plus 1 Sprint Race Win)
  32. 🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc – 5 wins
  33. 🇪🇸 Carlos Sainz Jr. – 2 wins
  34. 🇫🇷 Pierre Gasly – 1 win
  35. 🇫🇷 Esteban Ocon – 1 win
  36. 🇬🇧 George Russell – 1 win (plus 1 Sprint Race Win)

Max Verstappen has 19 wins in 22 races this season and broke his record of 15 wins in a season set in 2022.

Hamilton is worried Verstappen will destroy all his records

  Running Tally of F1 Race Wins of the two best ever – Hamilton vs. Verstappen
Age Hamilton Wins Verstappen Wins
18 0 1
19 0 3
20 0 5
21 0 8
22 4 10
23 9 20
24 11 31
25 14 48
26 17 54 and counting (just turned 26 years old)
27 21 TBD
28 22 TBD
29 33 TBD
30 43 TBD
31 53 TBD
32 62 TBD
33 73 TBD
34 84 TBD
35 95 TBD
36 103 TBD
37 103 TBD
38 103 TBD
39 103 TBD

TBD: To Be Determined

In his last 49 races, Verstappen has won 38 of them….amazing consistent domination and a Red Bull team that is performing at an elite level. He has 44 wins since the start of 2021 and has scored points in the last 41 races.

2022
P1 – Imola (Sprint)
P1 – Imola
P1 – Miami
P1 – Barcelona
P3 – Monaco
P1 – Azerbaijan
P1 – Canada
P7 – Silverstone
P1 – Austria (Sprint)
P2 – Austria
P1 – Paul Ricard
P1 – Hungary
P1 – Spa
P1 – Zandvoort
P1 – Monza
P7 – Singapore
P1 – Suzuka
P1 – Austin TX
P1 – Mexico
P4 – Brazil (Sprint)
P6 – Brazil
P1 – Abu Dhabi

2023
P1 – Bahrain
P2 – Saudi Arabia
P1 – Australia
P3 – Azerbaijan (Sprint)
P2 – Azerbaijan
P1 – Miami
P1 – Monaco
P1 – Barcelona
P1 – Canada
P1 – Austria (Sprint)
P1 – Austria
P1 – England
P1 – Hungary
P1 – Belgium (Sprint)
P1 – Belgium
P1 – Zandvoort
P1 – Monza
P5 – Singapore
P1 – Suzuka
P2 – Qatar (Sprint)
P1 – Qatar
P1 – Austin (Sprint)
P1 – Austin
P1 – Mexico
P1 – Sao Paulo
P1 – Las Vegas
P1 – Abu Dhabi

Winning Percentage in a Year

Rank Driver Year Wins Winning %
1 Max Verstappen 2023 19 of 22 86.36
2 Albert Ascari 1952 6 of 8 75.00
3 Michael Schumacher 2004 13 of 18 72.22
4 Jim Clark 1963 7 of 10 70.00
5 Sebastian Vettel 2013 13 of 19 68.42
6 Max Verstappen 2022 15 of 22 68.18
7 Juan Fangio 1954 6 of 9 66.67
8 Lewis Hamilton 2020 11 of 17 64.71
9 Michael Schumacher 2002 11 of 17 64.71
10 Jim Clark 1965 6 of 10 60.00

Bold = Active Driver

Max Verstappen, F1 Records set in 2023
Statistic Old Record New Record set by Verstappen Comment
Highest Percent wins in a season 75% by Ascari 86.36% Will never be beaten
Most wins in a season 15 by Verstappen 19
Most consecutive wins 9 by Vettel 10
Most wins from pole in a season 9 by both Vettel and Mansell 12
Most consecutive wins from pole 11 by Verstappen 16
Most Sprint Wins in a season 2 by Bottas 4
Largest point gap between 1st and 2nd 155 by Vettel over Alonso in 2013 290 over Perez
Highest percentage points difference between first and second in championship 48.1% by Villeneuve over Frentzen in 1997 and Mansell over Patrese in 1992 49.56%
Most Hat Tricks (Pole, Fast Lap and Win) in a Season 5 by both Ascari and Schumacher 6
Most points in a season 454 by Verstappen in 2022 575 Out of a possible 620 points
Most % points in a season 84.7% by Schumacher in 2002 92.7%
Most podiums in a season 17 by Verstappen in 2022 21 Out of 22 Races
Most consecutive Top-2 finishes 15 by Schumacher 15 Verstappen’s run ended in Singapore
Most laps led in a season 739 by Vettel 1,003
Most percent laps led in a season 71.4% by Clark 75.7%
Most pitstops by a winning driver 6 by Button 6 Tied Button’s record at Dutch GP
Most races left in a season before championship win 6 by Schumacher 6+1 day Verstappen tied the record in Qatar but he did it on Saturday in the Sprint race before the Qatar GP ever took place so the new record is 6 races plus 1 day
Most consecutive races as Championship leader 37 by Schumacher 39 Verstappen will end the 2023 season upping the record to 39
Most consecutive points scored 998 by Hamilton 1,005
Completed every lap of the season 1,262 by Hamilton 1,326 Only other drivers to do it, but in shorter seasons, were Michael Schumacher in 2002 and Lewis Hamilton in 2019
Previous F1 Records held by Max Verstappen
Record Age Achieved
Youngest driver to start a race 17 years, 166 days 2015 Australian GP
Youngest driver to score points 17 years, 180 days 2015 Malaysian GP
Youngest driver to win a race 18 years, 228 days 2016 Spanish GP
Youngest driver to score a podium 18 years, 228 days 2016 Spanish GP
Youngest driver to lead a lap 18 years, 228 days 2016 Spanish GP
Youngest driver to set a fastest lap 19 years, 44 days 2016 Brazilian GP
Youngest driver to score a grand slam 23 years, 277 days 2021 Austrian GP
Most sprint race wins 7 2023 Brazilian GP