Max Verstappen (3)
2020 season
In 2020, Verstappen signed a contract extension to race for Red Bull until the end of 2023
Verstappen continued to race for Red Bull in 2020, alongside Albon. At the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix, he started second, but retired early in the race after a flywheel-related problem caused an electronic issue within the power unit.[174] Honda introduced countermeasures in response to the retirement.[175]
At the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, he crashed in wet conditions during the formation lap while he was on his way to the starting grid,[176] but he was able to drive the car back to the grid where his mechanics fixed the suspension of the car in the short time that was left before the start of the race.[177] After the repairs, Verstappen progressed from seventh place on the grid to second place by the end of the race.[178] Verstappen won the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone, having started from fourth.[179]
Verstappen clinched second place at the Spanish Grand Prix, after qualifying in third.[180][181] At the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix, he scored a podium in third place, following his third place on the starting grid.[182] He suffered from two consecutive DNFs at the Italian and Tuscan Grands Prix after which he lost second place in the Championship.[183][184] At the Russian Grand Prix, Verstappen finished the race in second, his seventh podium finish of 2020.[185] At the Eifel Grand Prix, Verstappen finished in second after qualifying in third.[186] He also managed to get the fastest lap of the race.[187] At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified third, however a poor first lap meant that he dropped back down the order to fifth place. He recovered to third and took his 40th podium in Formula 1.[188] At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen looked set to claim second due to Valtteri Bottas' ailing Mercedes slowing down, but a sudden puncture denied him any chance of a podium finish; Verstappen spun, resulting in his fourth retirement of the 2020 season
During Free Practice for the Portuguese Grand Prix, Verstappen was criticised for comments he made on the team radio after a collision with Lance Stroll, where he used the words "retard" and "mongol" in response to the clash. Verstappen admitted following the session that the word choices he used were "not correct." The Mongolian government and the Mongol identity asked Verstappen to apologise for the comments; the Mongolian government also urged the FIA to take action on the comments he made.[190][191]
Verstappen finished the 2020 season in third place in the championship with 214 points. He claimed two race victories, eleven podium finishes, one pole position, and three fastest laps.
2021 season: World Champion
At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen topped all the practice sessions and subsequently took a career fourth pole position. This was the first time he achieved back-to-back pole positions.[193] He fought Lewis Hamilton for the race victory, and on lap 53 Verstappen overtook Hamilton, but went off track whilst doing so, resulting in him being instructed by race control to let Hamilton back into the lead and ultimately finishing second behind Hamilton.[194] At the next race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified third with teammate Sergio Pérez second, marking the first time he was out-qualified by a teammate since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix.[195] At the race start, Verstappen was able to pass both Pérez and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton to take the lead. He remained in the lead after the first round of pit stops as well as the restart, following the race being suspended on lap 33. Rival Hamilton finished second, reducing his championship lead over Verstappen to one point.[196] In the following Portuguese Grand Prix, Verstappen finished second after a long battle with Lewis Hamilton.[197] At the Spanish Grand Prix, the battle between Verstappen and Hamilton continued, with Hamilton employing a faster two-stop strategy versus Verstappen's one-stop race. This provided Hamilton the advantage of faster tyres, allowing him to overtake Verstappen with several laps remaining in the race. Hamilton took the victory, with Verstappen taking second and the fastest lap, increasing Hamilton's championship lead to 14 points
At the next race in Monaco, Verstappen qualified second behind Charles Leclerc,[199] but Leclerc suffered a driveshaft failure on the way to the grid and was unable to start the race. Verstappen controlled the race from the front on the way to victory. Hamilton (who qualified seventh) finished seventh, though claiming an extra championship point by setting the fastest race lap. The result enabled Verstappen to take the lead in the Drivers' Championship for the first time in his career, by a margin of four points over Hamilton.[200] At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified third behind Leclerc and Hamilton.[201] Verstappen and Hamilton passed Leclerc in the opening laps before Verstappen took the lead by way of a faster pitstop. Verstappen would comfortably hold the lead until lap 46 when he suffered a tyre failure causing him to crash at high-speed and retire.[202] A mistake by Hamilton on the restart dropped him to last place, meaning Verstappen maintained his championship lead.[203] Verstappen took pole for the French Grand Prix.[204] Verstappen's mistake on the first lap allowed Hamilton to take the lead which Verstappen retook during the pit stop phase. Verstappen pitted for a second time from the lead and set after the Mercedes duo, overtaking Hamilton for the lead on lap 52 of 53.[205] He also took the fastest lap point, extending his championship lead to twelve points[206] and achieving the first hat-trick of his career.[207] Verstappen clinched pole position again at the Styrian Grand Prix and led the race from start to finish, to give him his fourth win of the season and further extend his lead to 18 points.
Verstappen took pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, led every lap from start to finish, set the fastest lap, and won the race for his first career grand slam,[209][210] being the youngest to do so.[211] With the win, Verstappen also became the first driver to win three races in three consecutive weekends, starting at the French Grand Prix on 20 June, then the Styrian Grand Prix on 27 June and ending with the Austrian Grand Prix on 4 July.[212][213] At the next race; the British Grand Prix, Verstappen was involved in a high-speed collision at the Copse corner with Hamilton on the first lap. This resulted in a 51 g impact with the barrier.[214][215] He was taken to the Silverstone circuit's medical centre after the crash and was then taken to Coventry hospital for precautionary checks and further assessment, before eventually being discharged at 22:00 local time on Sunday night.[216] Hamilton would go on to win the race, reducing Verstappen's lead in the championship to eight points.[217] At the next race, the Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen's car suffered damage in a multi-car collision on lap 1, where Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was deemed at fault. He ended the race in tenth which was promoted to ninth after Sebastian Vettel was disqualified. The outcome of the race allowed Hamilton to take the lead of the championship
Following the summer break, Verstappen qualified on pole at the Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of Williams driver George Russell in second and Lewis Hamilton in third.[219] The race was run for three laps, all behind the safety car, with the race official race results taken from the running order at the end of the first lap, with Hamilton and Verstappen both retaining their qualifying positions. As less than 75% of the race distance was completed, half points were awarded, resulting in Verstappen closing the gap to Hamilton to three points.[220] At the Dutch Grand Prix Verstappen again qualified on pole, beating Hamilton by 0.038 seconds.[221] During the race Verstappen was able to fend off attacks from both Mercedes drivers to take the win, taking the lead in the Drivers' Championship by three points.[222] For the Russian Grand Prix, Verstappen was required to start at the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit components.[223] He made his way back up the field, and after taking an early pit stop for intermediate tyres late in the race, he finished second.[224] At the Turkish Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified second with Bottas on pole.[225] With the race being run in wet conditions and the drivers on intermediate tyres the whole race, Verstappen finished second behind Bottas, taking the lead in the Drivers' Championship by six points as Hamilton finished fifth.
At the United States Grand Prix, Verstappen took pole position in qualifying, edging Hamilton by 0.209 seconds.[227] Verstappen won the race and extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to twelve points as Hamilton finished second with the fastest lap.[228] At the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix, Verstappen qualified third with a gap to pole-sitter Bottas of 0.350 seconds.[229] Verstappen's main opponent Hamilton qualified second. At the race start, Verstappen took the lead from Bottas and Hamilton into turn 1 and won the race, and as a result extended his lead in the championship to 19 points.[230]
Verstappen and Hamilton were on equal points in the Drivers' Championship going into the final round,[231] the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Verstappen leading on countback. Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the final lap to win the race, and his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship.[232][233] Verstappen, who had qualified on pole position by nearly four-tenths of a second, had a slow start off the line at the start of the race and dropped to second place. Verstappen was trailing Hamilton by over ten seconds until a late safety car was called in due to a crash at turn 14 involving Williams driver Nicholas Latifi.[234] The withdrawal of the safety car and the resumption of the race following the safety car period was met with controversy. Race director Michael Masi allowed only a certain number of lapped cars through, which after the race brought from the Mercedes team a protest and stated intention to appeal against the race result, arguing that all lapped cars should be allowed through, Red Bull counter argued that this was not specified by the wording of the regulations. The protest was rejected, although subsequent investigation by the FIA resulted in the wording of the rule being amended for the 2022 season to specify that "all" cars will unlap themselves (at the race director's discretion) rather than "any".[235][236] Verstappen passed Hamilton at turn 5 of the final lap of the race to become the 34th Formula One World Drivers' Champion.[
2022 season: Dominant second title
In March 2022, Verstappen signed a five-year contract extension with Red Bull Racing for the 2023 to 2028 seasons
Verstappen retired from second place at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with a fuel system issue. He won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, having benefited from a pit stop during safety car conditions to pass teammate and pole-sitter Pérez, but suffered another fuel-related retirement from second place at the Australian Grand Prix. This left him 46 points behind championship leader Charles Leclerc after three races. Verstappen responded by winning the next three races; he achieved sprint victory and a grand slam at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix,[238] won from third on the grid at the Miami Grand Prix and gained from Leclerc's retirement at the Spanish Grand Prix to lead the Drivers' Championship. Further wins came at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Leclerc again retired, and from pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix. Verstappen qualified second at the British Grand Prix, but floor damage from running over debris harmed his pace and resulted in a seventh-place finish.[239] He took pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix and won the sprint, but was overtaken by Leclerc in the race and finished second, reducing his championship lead over Leclerc to 38 points.
Following this, Verstappen went on to win five races consecutively. Pole-sitter Leclerc crashed out of the French Grand Prix, allowing Verstappen to win. Power unit issues meant he qualified tenth for the Hungarian Grand Prix,[240] but overtakes in the opening laps and pit stop undercuts meant he went on to take victory, despite briefly losing the lead after a spin.[241] He set the fastest qualifying time at the Belgian Grand Prix but was demoted to 14th on the grid with a power unit components penalty. Despite this, he progressed to the race lead by lap 12 and went on to win.[242] He took pole position and his 30th race victory at his home race, the Dutch Grand Prix, and then won from seventh on the grid at the Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen's winning streak was ended at the Singapore Grand Prix. He ran out of fuel in qualifying and started the race eighth.[243] He lost places at the start and later had to make an extra pit stop due to a tyre lock up, finishing seventh. Victory from pole at the shortened Japanese Grand Prix gave him a 113-point lead in the standings with four races remaining, securing him his second World Drivers' Championship.[244] He won the next two races, the United States and Mexico City Grands Prix, finished sixth at the São Paulo Grand Prix after a collision with Lewis Hamilton, and won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole.
Abu Dhabi was his fifteenth victory of the year, breaking the record of thirteen race wins in a season shared by Michael Schumacher in 2004 and Sebastian Vettel in 2013. He won the championship with 454 points, beating Lewis Hamilton's 2019 record of 413
2023 season: Record-breaking dominance and third title
Verstappen remained with Red Bull alongside Sergio Pérez for the 2023 season. His season began with a win from pole at the Bahrain Grand Prix. A driveshaft failure in qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix resulted in a 15th-place start, but he gained positions in the race to finish second behind Pérez.[246] He again won from pole at the Australian Grand Prix despite losing positions to the Mercedes drivers during the race,[247] but finished second to Pérez, who made a safety car pit stop, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.[248]
After this began Verstappen's record-breaking win streak. He started ninth at the Miami Grand Prix as red flags in qualifying aborted his lap, but passed the drivers ahead including pole-sitter Pérez to win. The next four races, the Monaco, Spanish, Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix, were won comfortably from pole position by Verstappen, including Red Bull's 100th victory in Canada[249] and a sprint win in Austria. He took pole at the British Grand Prix but briefly lost the lead to Lando Norris at the start before regaining the position to win. He qualified 0.003 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but overtook him at the first corner and went on to take victory. He claimed pole and the win in the Belgian Grand Prix sprint and set the fastest qualifying time, but started the race sixth due to an engine component penalty. He went on to overtake Pérez to win the race. He won from pole at the rain-affected Dutch Grand Prix and was victorious again at the Italian Grand Prix despite qualifying behind Carlos Sainz Jr. This victory marked his tenth consecutive win, breaking Sebastian Vettel's record of nine from 2013,[250][251] and Red Bull's fifteenth consecutive win, a record previously held by McLaren with eleven in 1988.
Both Red Bulls were eliminated in Q2 at the Singapore Grand Prix and were unable to make an impression in the race, with Verstappen and Pérez finishing fifth and eighth respectively, ending the winning streak.[252] This would be the only break in Verstappen's success, as he went on to win the remaining seven races of the season. His victory from pole at the Japanese Grand Prix gave Red Bull their sixth Constructors' Championship title.[253] He clinched his third World Drivers' Championship title at the Qatar Grand Prix sprint despite finishing second to Oscar Piastri,[254] then won the race from pole. He won the United States Grand Prix despite having started sixth due to a lap time deletion in qualifying. He qualified behind both Ferraris at the Mexico City Grand Prix but passed both drivers to claim the win. He took pole and victory at the São Paulo Grand Prix, and won the sprint having overtook pole-sitter Lando Norris at the first turn. He started behind Charles Leclerc at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and received a penalty for forcing him off the track, but Verstappen reclaimed the lead to win.
His pole and victory at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was his nineteenth win of the year, breaking his own record of fifteen from 2022. He scored 575 points, more than double that of second-placed Pérez and beating his own points-scoring record from 2022.
2024 season
Verstappen began the 2024 season with his fifth career grand slam at the Bahrain Grand Prix and followed this with another pole and victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He took pole again at the Australian Grand Prix but was forced into retirement with a brake fire, ending his nine-race winning streak and marking his first retirement in two years.[255] This was followed by a pole and win at the Japanese Grand Prix. He won the sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix despite starting fourth, then claimed his sixth consecutive pole position in qualifying and took victory in the race.
