Max Verstappen wins F1 Chinese GP: what is the record for most wins in a season?

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen has won the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, to the surprise of few after he started in pole position once again at the Shanghai International circuit. After his record-breaking 2023 season, the Dutchman has made a dominant start to 2024 as he looks to clinch a fourth successive Formula One Drivers’ Championship, which already looks inevitable.

How many races has Verstappen won in 2024?

Verstappen has started each of the first five races of the 2024 season in first place on the grid, with the only surprise being his failure to win all five. After victories in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, he was forced to retire on just the fourth lap of the Australian Grand Prix due to brake failure.

The 26-year-old has bounced back in typically impressive fashion, though, posting victories at the Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix.

Verstappen’s record-breaking 2023: how many races did he win?

Verstappen broke all kinds of records in 2023. His tally of 19 wins from 22 races was four better than the 15 he recorded 12 months earlier, and six better than anyone else in Formula One history. Michael Schumacher (with Ferrari in 2004) and Sebastian Vettel (with Red Bull in 2013) have both won 13 times in a year.

With that, he set a new best for highest percentage of wins in a season (86.36%), bettering the record of Italy’s Alberto Ascari (75%, six victories in eight races), which had stood since 1952. In the modern era, Michael Schumacher won 13 of 18 Grands Prix (72.22%) in the 2004 season.

The Dutch star also broke the record for consecutive wins, with his 10 straight triumphs between the Miami Grand Prix in May and the Italian Grand Prix in September beating the previous tally of nine, which Sebastian Vettel achieved in 2013 and which Verstappen then equalled at the start of this season.

With four wins from five races this season, and a 100% winning record when he as crossed the finish line, could yet more records tumble in 2024? The Red Bull driver needs to win 16 of the remaining 19 races to beat last year’s tally of 19 victories, which looks more than realistic, especially with two extra Grands Prix on the calendar this year.

The 2024 season continues with the Miami Grand Prix, which will be held at Miami International Autodrome for the third time on 5 May. Verstappen won the two previous editions of the race in 2022 and 2023.