2022 was truly an incredible season for Max Verstappen, with his dominant campaign having arguably been the most successful of all-time, at least that’s what the statistics suggest.
On his way to a second consecutive Drivers’ Championship, the imperious Dutchman blitzed the records for most wins and most points scored in a single season.
He staggeringly claimed 15 wins in 2022, beating the previous record of 13 wins which was jointly held by Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, who have 11 World Championships between them.
Vettel’s record for most points in a year was also beaten by the Dutchman, who accumulated 454 points across the 22-race season.
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His figures for 2022 are truly mesmerising, with his overall number of career wins having risen from 20 to 35 in one season.
Going into 2023, he is just 18 wins off Vettel on the all-time list, with the German currently holding third spot.
Given that Verstappen is still just 25 years old, 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg has tipped the Red Bull star to “join” the “top five” of all-time list.
Verstappen is currently sixth on the most wins in F1 list, a list he is expected to rise ever higher in.
“Max Verstappen is simply a brilliant driver. I am pretty sure that very soon he will join the top five F1 drivers of all time,” Rosberg told Sport1.
“Along with drivers of the likes of [Ayrton] Senna, [Lewis] Hamilton, and [Michael] Schumacher. The name of Max Verstappen will join that list.
“It is incredible how talented he is and how impeccable he was. Obviously, he’s the one you measure up against.”
Fellow F1 driver Lando Norris has tipped Verstappen to potentially eclipse Hamilton’s 103 GP wins, a record that many are certain will never be beaten.
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Norris thinks Verstappen “could quite possibly” claim the greatest of all-time title, but that overall, he doesn’t care “about numbers”, just like Hamilton, interestingly.
“If Max has two seasons like this, he can get another 30 to 40 wins in the next year-and-a-half to two years, and then he is up to 70 already, so he could quite possibly [beat Hamilton’s records],” Norris said.
“I don’t think he cares too much about numbers, or what you see on paper, he just wants to be known as the best driver.”