Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was crowned Formula 1 world champion for the third time in his career on Saturday in Qatar.
He is now the equal of Ayrton Senna or Niki Lauda. With his second place in the sprint race, Saturday October 7, in Qatar, Max Verstappen won a third consecutive Formula 1 world champion title at just 26 years old, after his coronations in 2021 and 2022. But where does the Dutchman does he compare to the other Formula 1 champions?
The 11th driver in history to achieve at least three titles
With three world championship titles, Max Verstappen equals the record of five great drivers: Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham and Nelson Piquet. The Dutchman is thus getting closer to Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost, crowned four times, and Juan Manuel Fangio, five-time world champion. Formula 1 record holders, such as Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, still have some margin, with 7 titles. Max Verstappen, however, has the merit of being the second driver, after Sebastian Vettel (crowned between 2010 and 2013), to win his first three titles in three consecutive seasons.
Extraordinary precocity
Series of titles, Red Bull single-seater… There is no shortage of points in common with Sebastian Vettel, and to these is added the precocity of the two drivers. Max Verstappen is crowned triple world champion a week after celebrating his 26th birthday. Only his German predecessor did better, with a third title at 25 years, 4 months and 22 days. The two drivers are quite well ahead of their elders, since Lewis Hamilton had to wait until he was 30 to be crowned triple world champion.
The fifth man with the most wins in F1
The youngest driver to win a Grand Prix, at 18 years, 7 months and 15 days (Spain 2016), Max Verstappen already has 48 victories to his credit. A figure which has increased over the last two seasons, with 15 victories in 2022, and already 13 in 2023, while six races remain to be contested. This season, he has already dethroned Ayrton Senna (41) from his fifth place in this ranking, and Alain Prost, even Sebastien Vettel, remain within his reach until the end of the championship.
The record for consecutive victories
Proof of his ultra domination in 2023, Max Verstappen has won 10 consecutive Grands Prix this season, from that of Miami, on May 7, to that of Monza, on September 3. By establishing this record, he thus dethrones Sebastian Vettel and his 9 consecutive victories in 2013. By adding his first place in Abu Dhabi during the last Grand Prix of the 2022 season, and the two victories of his teammate Sergio Perez in 2023, Red Bull has also won 15 consecutive Grands Prix, an unprecedented performance in F1.
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Outstripped in the pole position rankings
If there’s one area where Max Verstappen isn’t so dominant, it’s pole positions. The Dutchman had to wait for his fifth season in Formula 1 to land his first, in Hungary, in 2019, at the age of 21. He then excelled in this area in 2021, with 10 pole positions in 22 Grands Prix. And although he outrageously dominated the 2023 season with a record of consecutive victories, he left more crumbs to his competitors in qualifying than in the race, since he has not had more than 5 pole positions this season.