Max Verstappen made more history at the Monaco Grand Prix as Sunday after surpassing Sebastian Vettel’s total amount of wins in Red Bull Racing colours.
It took Vettel just 94 appearances at Red Bull to secure those 38 victories. His first came at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix, with the German scoring his last for the Milton Keynes-based team at the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix. That was his ninth consecutive win in a row that year, too.
For the Dutchman, he had to wait until his 145th start for Red Bull before equalling the record set by his German rival. The Monaco masterclass on Sunday moved him to the top on his own.
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
There will always be debates about records and who is better, but there is no doubt that both drivers are exceptionally good.
It’s easy to forget considering his current domination of the sport, but it was only two years that Verstappen finally got his hands on a car that consistently could challenge for race victories and championships.
When Vettel joined Red Bull Racing for the 2009 season, they were heading into their first golden era in Formula One.
Verstappen was asked about breaking the record on Sunday. The 25-year-old gave a very modest response.
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
“If you have a good car for a while, you can break these kinds of numbers,” he said.
“But yeah, it’s great. I mean, I would have never thought that I would be in this position in my career. When I grew up, I wanted to be a Formula 1 driver and winning these races is amazing. It’s better than I could have ever imagined, for sure.”
On the all-time list for most wins, the two-time World Champion is only two victories behind the late Ayrton Senna. It’s highly likely he will move past the Brazilian up to 5th in the next few weeks.
