Verstappen in unique company after Japan Grand Prix

Max Verstappen proved supreme once again at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday. The Dutchman finished first with a 12-second lead over teammate Sergio Perez. The Dutchman led for most of the race, thus joining an illustrious list.

Thanks to his victory in Japan, Verstappen added a good number of laps in the lead in a Formula 1 race again. The Red Bull Racing driver even passed the 3,000-lap mark in the lead. In total, the counter now stands at 3,009 laps.

This puts him ahead of only Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton's record stands at 5,455. Next on the list is Sebastian Vettel, with the German driving 3,501 laps in the lead during his F1 career.

Equalling Schumacher record

Verstappen has been putting his name more and more emphatically in the record books in recent years. Back in 2023, he became the driver who drove the most laps in the lead during a season. After Abu Dhabi, the tally stood at a whopping 1003 laps.

In addition, Verstappen equalled a record held by Schumacher. The Dutchman is the second driver to win the Japanese Grand Prix three times in a row. Schumacher did so in the years 2000 - 2002.