F1 records after Monza | Verstappen and Red Bull on lonely heights
- Sam Godber
The Italian Grand Prix weekend saw Sebastian Vettel' s much-discussed blessing record shattered. Max Verstappen won his tenth consecutive Grand Prix, overtaking the German, who has won nine in a row. GPblog lists the broken records.
Verstappen past Vettel
In 2013, Vettel won all the races after the summer break in his Red Bull Racing car. In doing so, the German set a record of nine Grand Prix wins in a row. That record was previously held by Michael Schumacher with seven consecutive wins. Ten years later, in 2023, Verstappen broke the four-time world champion's record. The Dutchman won all the races between the Grands Prix in Miami and Italy, giving him 10 consecutive victories. Verstappen can further extend his win streak in Singapore.
Red Bull breaks Mercedes record
At the end of the 2016 season, the Mercedes team had a lead of no less than 297 points over the number two in the constructors' championship. A lead of such magnitude was a record until the Italian Grand Prix, but after the Monza race, Red Bull Racing took that record from Mercedes. Indeed, the Austrian team has a lead of 310 points over number two, Mercedes, after the race in Italy.
Furthermore, Red Bull again strengthened the record for most consecutive wins for a constructor, the tally now standing at 15. Red Bull also scored the sixth one-two of the 2023 season; never before has the Austrian racing team scored so many one-twos in a single season.
Notable statistics 2023 season
Sainz led the first 14 laps of the Italian Grand Prix, which is the most number of laps a non-Red Bull driver has been in the lead this season. Also, the Spaniard's gap to winner Verstappen at the end of the race was 'only' 11.082 seconds, which was also the smallest margin to victory for a non-Red Bull driver (in a race without a late safety car). However, Verstappen did have a problem with his RB19 in the final laps of the Grand Prix which cost him some time.