Bahrain GP statistics and records | Verstappen is winning for eight years
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The first Grand Prix of 2023 is over and in Bahrain, Max Verstappen was the dominant factor. The Dutchman won for the first time at the Bahrain International Circuit by disappearing on the horizon from pole position. We look at the statistics, records and upcoming record-breakers after the Bahrain GP.
Verstappen win season opener yields fine stats
With his first victory in Bahrain, Verstappen now has 36 wins, but perhaps even more impressive is that he has now won 24 different Grands Prix. He is just one place below Lewis Hamilton who won 30 different GPs. This picture is slightly distorted because multiple Grands Prix were held at the same circuit during the corona years. With wins at 22 different circuits, Verstappen is now as high as Alain Prost at P3 and has passed Sebastian Vettel in the rankings.
The Dutchman's victory in the season opener also directly ensures that Verstappen has won a race in as many as eight consecutive F1 seasons. Verstappen won a race at least once per season since 2016 until the current season. Not many emulated him. Only Ayrton Senna, Prost, Hamilton and Michael Schumacher had longer runs.
Speaking of win streaks. Verstappen now has a run of just two races, but with the dominance he showed, he could potentially build another, bigger streak. In 2022, his strongest series consisted of five wins. If he had also won the Singapore Grand Prix in that year, he would have equalled Sebastian Vettel's record run of nine wins in a row. Considering the fact that he won the three races after Singapore as well.
Verstappen and Alonso in battle for the numbers
With his 21st pole position in Bahrain, the Dutchman is also just one pole position away from the total of Fernando Alonso who is P13 in the list with 22 poles. With his amazing race to the podium in Bahrain, the Spaniard has also officially started his 20th season in Formula 1. That is a new record. Alonso has now passed Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen and Schumacher.
Verstappen's victory also brings Red Bull another step closer to Williams on the list of number of wins. Red Bull is on 93 and the difference is still 21 races with Williams, but the chase is on for Red Bull. If the team perseveres, they might be able to overtake Williams next year. Then they will no longer be at the bottom of the five currently active teams that were once champions [not counting Alpine as Renault].