Formula 1: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in pursuit of records – Sebastian Vettel to start

“If you’ve had a good car for a while, you can break these records,” said the world champion. He has now collected 39 Grand Prix victories, four of them in the junior season. Verstappen is crushing the sport at the moment, his superiority is great, but also boring. And for the future, the question arose of what records all this could still lead to.

The problem with the present became clear on Sunday afternoon in Monaco. The Dutchman was on the podium with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, and the mood was great throughout – when beaten drivers are in a good mood, it’s not a good sign, but he can blame them.

The old master Alonso witnessed a late rise, he alone is the second force behind the Red Bulls, and this was not expected with Aston Martin. And he can also explain why that is enough for him at the moment: In his previous life racing at Renault or Ferrari, he would only think of the title at such a point, he said, “But Max and Red Bull are so dominant, we are in every one step.” down in individual races.”

Even Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes wasn’t as superior as the RB19 was at the best of times, so why should we develop false ambition? And in third place was Ocon, the Alpine pilot, who also showed what goes wrong: the midfield team outperforms the big boys because they have too much to do with themselves.

Verstappen vs. Vettel: The Dutchman has not (yet) won four world titles

Ferrari’s hopes of a rebound were dashed in Monaco, the car was not unexpectedly good at this particular track, but unexpectedly bad. Mercedes has spent large portions of the season trying to make sense of its cars, and the W14 has now been completely redesigned for the start in Monaco – and at some point it’s meant to be a car for the front runners again.

The man, fighting with the same weapons as Verstappen, also had a notable crash. At the beginning of May, Sergio Perez still looked like a candidate for the World Cup – in Monaco he was twice behind and was already 39 points behind. “Maybe the euphoria is too much for him,” Red Bulls motorsports advisor Helmut Marko told Sky.

So, Verstappen almost effortlessly replaced Vettel, who had been the face of Red Bull’s Formula 1 for a long time – and to some extent still is. He’s won four titles, Verstappen has to get there first. But who would doubt that?

This year he will be world champion for the third time, and that seems certain. In 2024 and 2025, Red Bull will also be one of the strongest teams if the regulations remain the same; Very different cars will start in 2026. But Red Bull still has huge opportunities ahead – and Verstappen’s contract runs until 2028. Perhaps Vettel’s record was only the beginning.

(SID)