Max Verstappen wins his 14th F1 race this season: Stats
Max Verstappen secured victory at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, taking his wins to 14 this season. Verstappen, who was crowned the Formula 1 champion for the third successive time after finishing second in the sprint race in Qatar, finished above the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris on race day. We decode his stats.
14 race wins in 2023
Verstappen won the season-opening Bahrain GP before finishing second in Saudi Arabia. He won the Australian GP thereafter before taking second place in Azerbaijan. Verstappen went in a series of wins thereafter, sealing the races in Miami, Monaco, Spain, Canada, Austria, Britain, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy. Verstappen finished fifth in Singapore before winning the races in Japan and Qatar.
16 podium finishes out of 17 races this season
Until the Italian GP, Verstappen clocked 14 successive podium finishes and 10 straight wins after the race in Azerbaijan. He has 16 podium finishes out of 17 races so far in 2023. Notably, there are five more F1 races left.
93rd podium and 49th race win for 2023 leader Verstappen
Verstappen has sealed 93 career podiums, besides winning 49 Formula 1 races. He has raced to 433 points this season and is well above his team-mate Sergio Perez (224). Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton who had to retire in Qatar, is third with 194 points. Fernando Alonso, who finished sixth, is 11 points behind Hamilton (183). Ferrari's Carlos Sainz is 5th with 153 points.
What about the Constructor standings?
Red Bull Racing have claimed 657 points this season. Mercedes are well behind in second with 326 points. Ferrari are third with 298 points and are placed above Aston Martin (230), and McLaren (219).
11th career podium for Norris; Piastri shines
Norris claimed his 11th career podium finish and a fifth this season. Meanwhile, Piastri claimed his second podium finish in what is his debut season in F1.
Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell collided
Mercedes duo Hamilton and George Russell collided at the start before Verstappen went on to dominate. Hamilton was forced to retire as Russell, who was dropped to the back of the field, fought back impressively to finish fourth. Both Hamilton and Russell collided on the first corner after starting from second and third. Hamilton's right rear wheel tagged Russell's left front.
