At only the age of 25, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has won two drivers’ championship titles, surpassing the achievements of Kimi Raikkonen and putting him level with Fernando Alonso.
By winning 15 races on his way to championship glory, the Dutchman shattered the record of 13 wins in a single season, shared between the legendary Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
The current record for number of championship titles is shared by Schumacher and current Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who both have seven titles to their name.
Should he race as long as the likes of Fernando Alonso, Verstappen could have 15 years left in his F1 career, giving him plenty of time to become statistically the greatest racing driver of all time.
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Despite clearly being one of the most talented drivers to ever grace Formula 1, Verstappen has insisted that he does not compare himself to the other F1 greats, claiming that he just wants to do the best that he possibly can.
“I think I already achieved more than I could ever dream of, so for me I always just try to get the best out of myself,” he told Racer.
“I don’t really think about where I am between all of the all-time greats in terms of championships or wins. I just want to do my job.
“I of course know I have a contract through 2028, so I want to try and win more with this team – more races and potentially championships.
“But I’ve never really been a guy that likes statistics or whatever. I always want to come out of a race weekend and tell myself that I gave it all and that I really extracted everything out of myself, because then I’m happy.
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“Then also once you stop racing, if I can look back at my years in Formula 1 and say, ‘Did I really get everything out of it?’ And if I did and I can say ‘yes’ to myself, then I’m happy.”
With Red Bull showing no signs of slowing down heading into 2023, it has been suggested that they could enter a period of dominance, similar to how Mercedes have dominated the previous decade.
Should the energy drink giants remain the team to beat, Verstappen could easily rack up a few more championships before his current contract expires, with it being rumoured that he could call time on his F1 career in 2028.