Max Verstappen has been on a rampage this season. The driver has been performing at a level above everyone else and is on his way to a second world title in his F1 career. After the controversial way in which the first title was decided, Verstappen’s run for a potential second title has been somewhat easier.
This season has already seen him decimate his opposition and these days, a win seems like a foregone conclusion even when the Dutchman is starting a race outside of top five. The way Max Verstappen is going, he’s knocking on the doors of immortality as there are quite a few records he’s lined himself up to break. The 2022 F1 season is going to be one where the Red Bull driver immortalizes himself as he looks set to break quite a few records. What are they? Let’s take a look!
#1 Most wins in a season (Schumacher and Vettel:13)
Max Verstappen currently finds himself with 11 wins to his name and needs to win just two more races in the next six to level the record for the most wins in a season. The record is currently jointly held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel with 13 wins in a season.
Michael Schumacher did that in 2004, and Sebastian Vettel did that nine years later in 2013. Nine years later, we’re in 2022 and Max Verstappen is already on 11 wins with six races left. It’s highly likely that Verstappen could break this one by the end of the season.
#2 Most points in a season (Lewis Hamilton:413)
Lewis Hamilton currently holds the record for most points scored in a season with 413 points in the 2019 F1 season. With six races left, Max Verstappen is already at 335 points. The Red Bull driver needs to score 79 points in the six races left to beat this record.
Looking at the way the Dutch driver is scoring, this record does not look that tough to overhaul. There is a very high possibility that Verstappen will end up with more than 413 points this season.
#3 Most podiums in a season (Max Verstappen:18)
Oddly enough, the record for the most podiums in a season is already in Verstappen’s possession as he scored 18 podium finishes last season. This season, the Red Bull driver is already at 13 podiums from 16 races.
With six races left, there is a high probability that Max Verstappen will better his own record. He will however need to score a podium finish in every remaining race of the season to accomplish this.
#4 Biggest gap to second place (Vettel:155 points)
For now, the biggest gap to second place was when Sebastian Vettel won the F1 world title in 2013 and had a run of nine consecutive wins in the second half of the season. The driver scored 397 points in his Red Bull while Fernando Alonso, the driver who finished second in the championship, had 242 points in the bag. This led to the record for the biggest margin of 155 points between the first and the second driver.
Max Verstappen currently has 335 points in the bag while the driver in P2 (Charles Leclerc) has 219 points. For Verstappen to break this record, he needs to extend the gap between himself and Charles Leclerc by 40 more points in the next six races. It might be a bit of a long shot, but, a DNF here, a typical Ferrari strategy there, and we have those 40 points in no time. This record is arguably not as certain as the others, but it is definitely possible to overhaul.
#5 Most consecutive race wins (Vettel:9 wins)
Now we’re talking about the big stakes here. This is the one that is not only very ambitious, but one that could require a bit of luck as well. Max Verstappen picked up his fifth consecutive race win at the Italian GP. He has now matched Lewis Hamilton’s career best of 5 consecutive race wins that he achieved with Mercedes in 2014 and 2020.
STATS:
• Max took the 31st victory of his career at the #ItalianGP
STATS:• Max took the 31st victory of his career at the #ItalianGP 
which levels Nigel Mansell for 7th OAT.• P7 is the seventh grid position Max has won from in 2022, this is now the all-time record for one season.• 11 wins in a year is now Max’s career best tally. https://t.co/hgsQypofAS
The next step would be surpassing Lewis Hamilton and matching Michael Schumacher’s feat of six consecutive race wins from 2000-01. If Verstappen wins the F1 Singapore GP, he will need to win three more races in a row to match Sebastian Vettel’s record of 9 consecutive race wins.
Can he do it? Singapore is going to be a challenge because Ferrari should be strong there. Japan, the United States, and Mexico are tracks that should ideally work in favor of Red Bull. If Verstappen can continue the form of the past five races, we could be looking at the Dutch driver breaking arguably one of the most elusive records for a drivers in our sport.
What’s your favorite race of the 2022 season so far? Tell us in the comments below..
Edited by Yashovardhan Singh
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