We are currently in the summer break of the 2023 Formula 1 season. We have to remember that at the beginning of the year, everything seemed to indicate that the battle between the two Red Bull drivers, Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, was going to be very close, since in the first 4 races, the Mexican won two while the Dutchman won the other two.
It was clear that Red Bull was going to be, once again, the team to beat, and that’s right. Out the 12 races that have been held throughout the year, the energy drink team has won absolutely all of them. Even more, Red Bull currently holds the record for the most consecutive wins for a team. McLaren held the record on 11. However, during the Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull claimed its 13th consecutive win.
The good performance of the drivers has made it possible for them to beat this record that was intact for 35 years. Currently, of the 12 races that have already been held this season, Sergio Perez has managed to win two of them, which were the Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while his teammate and reigning champion, Max Verstappen, has achieved victory in the remaining 10.
You can appreciate all the effort that the entire Red Bull Racing team has made, from mechanics, managers, engineers, among many other people.
However, one of the people who always stays at the forefront of the team and being the example of a leader is their team principal, Christian Horner. The Brit spoke about just how unbelievably good Verstappen is right now.
“I think it’s levels of superiority over everybody at the moment.”
“I think that, generally, it’s been outstanding,” Horner stated. “I think that what we’re witnessing with Max at the moment is something that you see once in a generation.”
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
“Checo did a great job on the first lap, overtook Charles bravely round the outside, he had strong pace in the first stint.”
Horner went into further detail when he was pushed on why Verstappen is able to extract more than Pérez out of the same machinery.
“Like all the great drivers, he just has that extra capacity. What we’re witnessing and seeing with him at the moment is his ability to read the tyres, to read the race and to extract absolute everything out of it. It is great to see. I think he’s just at the top of his form at the moment,” Horner concluded.
It would be an unimaginable achievement to continue extending this record for the most consecutive wins for the same team until the end of the campaign.
Similarly, the two-time world champion has been inching closer to another record currently held by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. We’re talking about the most consecutive victories for the same driver. The German achieved such a milestone during the 2013 season, where he won his last drivers’ championship with a total of 9 consecutive victories.
Verstappen has 8 victories in a row at present. So at his home Grand Prix after F1 resumes, the Dutchman can manage to equal that record.
