F1

Three world records Verstappen could break in F1

Great expectation in Italy this weekend as the Dutch driver could break three historical records between now and the end of the season.

While the Italian GP has always been a highly anticipated race on the F1 calendar, this weekend will be especially interesting. This weekend’s results could play a key part in whether Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen ends the season with a handful of new world records or not. The young driver finds himself with an incredible leadership of 310 points in the Drivers’ Championship - 109 points ahead of his nearest rival Charles Leclerc with 170 points still up for grabs. His numbers give him the chance to break several F1 benchmarks.

The first of them is the record for victories, which is currently shared by Michael Schumacher and Sebastián Vettel at 13. The Austrian driver is currently on 10, which means he needs three more victories to match the record and another one to beat it.

The other record that is being talked about is the number of points recorded in one season, where Lewis Hamilton’s registry of 413 points remains unmatched. Currently, Max needs 104 points to beat him with 170 left to play.

And the third record is the number of points that separate the first from the second place, a milestone held by Sebastian Vettel, who in 2013 finished 155 points ahead of Fernando Alonso. Right now, the gaps between Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, his nearest opponent, is 109.

With these results, the press and F1 fans have been referring to this era of Red Bull as the new golden age for some time, comparing it to the 2013 season with the Vettel-Webber duo as its predecessor. In fact, of the records Max has the chance to break, two of them are already held by Vettel, such as four consecutive titles for the team. Although, in the words of Christian Horner, Max “doesn’t like statistics or records”, the truth is that the driver could add new records this year to the ones he currently has: “The youngest driver to compete in a GP ”, “The youngest winner of a GP”, “The youngest in a fastest lap”, “The youngest to achieve a podium”