In Monaco, Max Verstappen won for the fourth time this season and for the 39th time overall for the Red Bull team, surpassing Sebastian Vettel’s total of 38 wins for the Milton Keynes outfit. The Dutchman, who is aiming for a third consecutive world title in 2023, keeps breaking records.
This was Verstappen’s second victory in his adopted home city, and it came on a track that was not expected to favour the Red Bull. Therefore, it was not shocking that Verstappen felt some satisfaction with his world-record lap.
“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.”
Since replacing Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso with Red Bull in 2016, when Verstappen made the transition, he has won every race he has entered. However, his total has increased rapidly over the past two seasons as his car has become a legitimate contender, and his performance has led to two world championships. He has a commanding lead in the drivers’ championship and should have no trouble making it three wins in a row.
Verstappen has never been in any position other than second this season, and he is now 39 points ahead of his teammate. However, he is not resting on his laurels just yet, since there are still at least 16 races left on his schedule.
When asked where the next challenge was likely to come from, he replied, “We always need to be perfect to really get everything out of [the race].” We have confidence in our ability to win the race. However, we just cannot afford the DNFs. And, you know, we should probably aim to keep getting better.
“It’s super nice to win [in Monaco]. It is also super nice to win it, I think, in the way we did today, with the weather and everything, to stay calm and bring it home. And yeah, again, a lot of points for the team as well.”
With 53 victories across Toro Rosso, Red Bull, and Ferrari, Vettel’s total record is far ahead of Verstappen’s 21. But Ayrton Senna’s record of 41 victories is up next for Verstappen to break.
