Max Verstappen equals Senna’s record of victories in F1 – 06/18/2023 – Sport

It only lasted two races, but there was a time in F1 when the names Senna and Verstappen lined up together on the grid.

While the three-time Brazilian champion started the fateful 1994 season, a young Dutchman, aged 22, at the time hired as a test driver for Benetton, made his debut in the category in a hurry, as the substitute for the Finnish JJ Lehto, who had suffered a neck injury. in the preseason.

The rookie was Jos Verstappen, who failed to complete the Brazilian and Pacific GPs, the only ones where he was on the track at the same time as Ayrton. In the third race of 1994, JJ Lehto was already back in his cockpit to compete in the San Marino GP, in which the Brazilian would suffer the fatal accident with his Williams.

In F1, Jos never managed to be much more than a contemporary of Senna. He competed in 107 races and climbed only twice on the podium, both times in third place. He would be his son, however, one of the few to match and surpass some of the marks set by the three-time champion.

This Sunday (18), Max Verstappen, 25, won the Canadian GP, ​​at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, and became the fifth driver with the most wins in F1, with 41 triumphs, the same number added by the Brazilian idol.

There are similarities between the two. None of them climbed to the top of the podium in their rookie year; Senna, in 1984, with Toleman, and Verstappen, in 2015, with Toro Rosso. The Brazilian at least got two thirds and a second place when he debuted.

The three-time champion’s start tally also gives him a slight advantage in winning average. With 161 races and 41 wins, the Brazilian crossed first in 25.47% of the races he played. In the case of the Dutchman, the index is 23.98%, with 41 triumphs in 171 stages.

The two-time champion, however, has recently opened up an advantage in the number of podiums. Now, he has 85, five more than the Brazilian.

The Red Bull driver is on his way to matching Senna’s even more important feat, winning his third world championship.

The two-time champion leads the drivers dispute, with 195 points. They are 69 ahead of second place, the Mexican Sergio Pérez, his teammate and the only one on the current grid with a car capable of challenging the Dutchman’s dominance — in eight races so far, Max has won six times, and Sergio has won twice.

For the other teams, even fighting for pole position has been a difficult task. Only Charles Leclerc, at the Azerbaijan GP, ​​managed to make Ferrari break Red Bull’s dominance, which obtained two poles with Pérez and four with Verstappen – the Dutchman has 25 in his career, in one of the few areas in which he is still very far from Senna, owner of 65, just behind Schumacher (68) and Hamilton (103).

Max has broad favoritism this season. Still in the first half of the 22 stages planned for the championship, it is difficult to imagine that any opponent will be able to prevent Verstappen not only from achieving the third championship but also from debunking other F1 legends.

In the ranking of victories, the next target on the list is Frenchman Alain Prost, a historic rival and also a former teammate of Senna. The four-time champion has 51 wins in his career.

On the podium of this list are the Englishman Lewis Hamilton, with 103, and the Germans Michael Schumacher, with 91, and Sebastian Vettel, with 53.

It remains to be seen what appetite the 25-year-old Dutchman will have to keep breaking records. The driver often gives mixed signals about his future in F1. Although he has a contract with Red Bull until 2028, he has already said recently that he doesn’t see himself racing in the series for many years. On the other hand, he has also stated that he would like to race for Ferrari one day.

In any case, the surname Verstappen, finally, is engraved in the history of motorsport.