A record in the sights
Ten victories in twelve races held so far, eight of which are consecutive. It doesn’t really seem to know stopover’s domain Max Verstappen this season, so much so that the Dutchman now seems to be on his way to his goal undisturbed third consecutive world title. With the summer break approaching, which will last until the last weekend of August in Zandvoort, the Dutchman can in fact enjoy a advantage of 125 points on his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, as well as 2nd in the world championship, and all with ten GPs still to go. Among the various records that could equal or exceed #1, there is one that is starting to be seriously questioned: if everything goes well for the class of 1997, with how many races to go can he mathematically win the title?
The results already obtained
Throughout the history of F1 there have been various drivers who have been able to add their name in the roll of honor to the last available round, or at most to the penultimate, but the cases in which a driver has graduated have been rarer arithmetically champion with three or more races to spare. Staying at altitude Threethe data that unites makes us curious Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark, who had the opportunity to close the game twice each: while the Scotsman succeeded in 1969 and 1971, the Briton won his 1963 and 1965 world titles in rapid time. Going up to fourthe same Verstappen he can already boast of his personal best: while in 2021 he won in the last act of the championship after the controversial final in Abu Dhabi. the Dutchman put the exclamation point with four races to go, as did two other Germans before him. While Michael Schumacher he succeeded in 2001 and 2004, in both cases with Ferrari, later he equaled this goal Sebastian Vettelwho took his second career title also with Red Bull.
The absolute primacy
Scary was instead the 1992year in which Nigel Mansell he graduated champion for the first and only time at the wheel of the legendary car Williams FW14, later updated and renamed FW14B. Recognized as one of the most successful single-seaters in history, as well as famous for some high-level technical solutions such as those of the active suspension, the ‘Red Five’ allowed Mansell to dominate and even win the title with five races to spare. Still, this does not represent the all-time record. In fact, he did better than the Englishman Michael Schumacher in 2002in that case entering the annals at Magny-Cours, 11th of the 17 appointments on that calendar, thus triumphing six races before of the conclusion of the championship.
When could he become champion?
The big difference between the world championships of recent seasons and those held in the past, which allowed the pilots mentioned to perform these feats, lies however in the number of GPs on the calendar. If it hadn’t been for the cancellation of the Emilia-Romagna GP, 2023 would have included the record 23 races scheduled, then reduced to 22 like last year. To beat Schumacher’s absolute record, Verstappen should continue along the path he has taken for the next three races, while hoping for continued missteps by Perez. This would guarantee the Dutchman a third title at the Singapore GP, which coincides with the 15th appointment. In that case, therefore, the Red Bull driver would win with seven races to spare.
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