Max Verstappen is one race away from a record ninth straight win. The Red Bull driver believes that dominance also brings more motivation for the future.
The 25-year-old wondered how long he could stay in Formula 1, saying last April in Azerbaijan that “sometimes you come to a point in your career where maybe you want to do other things” .
These thoughts come from a race won by his Mexican teammate Sergio Perez. Since then, Verstappen has won every Grand Prix, taken a 125-point lead at the top of the standings, and taken his record to 45 victories. Soon to be a triple world champion, the Dutchman has a contract until the end of 2028. By then, who knows how many victories and titles he will have won.
Max Verstappen is in a league of his own at the moment, with 10 wins from 12 races and Red Bull is on a record streak of 13 in a row. “It keeps the flame going. If I have to get up and I have no chance of winning, the flame starts to go out,” said the Dutch driver at Spa-Francorchamps.Sebastian Vettel, retired four-time world champion, is the only driver to have won nine consecutive victories in a single season, with Red Bull in 2013.
The next race is the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, after the August break. A formality to come for the local champion. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says Verstappen is the kind of talent that only comes around once in a generation. “Like all great drivers, he has that extra ability. What we’re seeing right now is his ability to read tires, to read a race, to squeeze absolutely everything out of it, he said. It’s nice to see and he’s in top form right now.”
