Before the 2024 Formula 1 season gets underway, Max Verstappen has already won a prestigious event, after being victorious last weekend in the iRacing Daytona 24 Hours.
As always, Verstappen competed for Red Bull backed Team Redline in the online event; however, his side used a Mercedes AMG GT3.
Verstappen’s team were the victors in their class, with some joking that he ended Mercedes’ losing streak.
Mercedes failed to claim a victory in F1 last year, whilst Lewis Hamilton’s winless streak dates back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
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On X (formerly known as Twitter), several comments were made about the Dutchman winning in a Mercedes, with one joking that it’s “The only winning a Mercedes will be doing this year”.
Another joked: “Ah that’s how Mercedes can get a win in 2024.”
Since Hamilton’s last victory in F1, the Silver Arrows have only claimed a single win, courtesy of George Russell at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Verstappen, meanwhile, has won 34 races in the last two seasons alone with him now sitting on 54 career victories in F1, putting him third on the all-time winners list, behind Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.
The three-time World Champion is, unsurprisingly, the clear favourite for the 2024 crown, which will officially make him the most successful Red Bull driver in the team’s history.
Verstappen has eclipsed everything Sebastian Vettel achieved for Red Bull, except his four titles and his 44 pole positions for the Milton Keynes-based team.
Given that the 26-year-old is contracted to Red Bull until at least the end of 2028, the chances are very high that Verstappen will become the most successful driver in Red Bull’s history.
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Whether Verstappen can be as dominant as he was in 2023 remains to be seen, although it will take a remarkable effort to claim more than 19 wins.
It should be noted though, that the 2023 season consisted of 22 races, whereas this year’s calendar features 24, a new record for F1.
There would’ve been 24 races last year, had the Chinese Grand Prix and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix not been cancelled.