Why world champion Max Verstappen really gave way to his Formula 1 teammate Sergio Pérez at the second stop in Abu Dhabi and what that means to him.
Max Verstappen was the first driver in Formula 1 history to lead over 1,000 Grand Prix laps in just one season.
And the three-time world champion really wanted to have this record, as he confirmed in the press conference after the 2023 final race in Abu Dhabi: “I knew it was possible. So I wanted to stay in the lead in order to get the necessary laps together.”
It was practically a precision landing: With 52 laps leading from Abu Dhabi, Verstappen has a season lead of 1,003 laps. This corresponds to 75.7 percent of all racing laps driven this year (1,325), which Verstappen was the only driver to complete all of. Only Michael Schumacher (2002) and Lewis Hamilton (2019) have achieved the latter before him.
And now Verstappen sits alone at the top of the leading lap statistics per racing season, because his pursuers are clearly behind: Sebastian Vettel is in second place with 739 leading laps from the 2011 season, ahead of Nigel Mansell with 694 from the 1992 season. Michael Schumacher is diving ranked P5 for the first time in this list with 683 from the 2004 season.
How much Verstappen wanted the record
Proportionately, a different picture emerges: Verstappen remains number one, but Jim Clark is in second place with 71.4 percent of all laps led from the 1963 season (506 of 708 laps), ahead of Mansell in 1992 with 66.9 percent (694 from 1,036 rounds). Vettel is in fourth place with 65.2 percent in 2011 (739 out of 1,133), ahead of Schumacher with 61.7 percent in 1994 (646 out of 1,046).
In the “eternal” statistics of Formula 1 leading laps, Verstappen has moved into the top 5 in 2023 with 2,859 leading laps as his career record so far. In front of him there are only Ayrton Senna, Vettel, Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, who leads 5,451 laps.
And Verstappen wanted the season record so badly that he “didn’t always accept the fastest strategy” just to collect enough leading laps. For example, he deliberately delayed his second pit stop for a long time (“I’ll wait until the people behind me have stopped”) and then let his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez go first: “You can get Checo in before me.”
Verstappen later said: “The only thing I cared about was achieving 1,000 leading laps in the season. I knew I could achieve that. [Mein Renningenieur] GP knew that too. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t get brought in too early. The tires still felt okay. They weren’t fantastic, but still okay. So we extended the stint a little bit further.”
Verstappen doesn’t let anything go wrong in Abu Dhabi
In the end, there was almost a quarter of an hour between the first radio message and the drive to the pits after the second stint in the race. Verstappen had done his best: only Yuki Tsunoda in the AlphaTauri (five laps) and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari (one lap) were still in the lead in Abu Dhabi.
It was Verstappen’s last show of force in an extremely dominant Formula 1 season with 19 victories in 22 races. But how does Verstappen actually find the motivation for such things until the end when he has been confirmed as world champion for weeks?
He himself says: “That’s just how I grew up. I just can’t go into a weekend without giving it my all. Then I’ll just get annoyed. And the people around me would be annoyed too if I were like that.”
Verstappen asserts that his attitude “didn’t change” after winning the World Cup (again). “I always want to try my best on the race weekend. Because winning is great. Why shouldn’t I want to win if I have a chance of winning? If I see a chance of winning, then I always give my best, also for the team.”
Verstappen: What will be remembered from the 2023 season
In addition, he is practically forced to use the Red Bull RB19 sensibly as long as it is possible. “Because if you have such a good car, then of course you want to try to set certain records,” says Verstappen. He achieved this in many ways in 2023.
A small selection: With his victories in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas, Verstappen became the first Formula 1 driver to win three races this season in just one host country. Ten Grand Prix victories in a row are also a Formula 1 record. Whenever he was in pole position in 2023, he would then cross the finish line first. And no one has ever had a larger points lead over the World Cup runner-up.
So how will Verstappen remember this superlative year? What remains of the 2023 Formula 1 season and all its successes?
Verstappen’s answer is surprising because he cites “just the team spirit” at Red Bull “and not so much the victories, the pole positions or the leading laps” as what will inspire him for a long time. For him, it’s “simply about the joy we felt as a team,” he emphasizes.
“Of course, victories are great, but I think it’s very important to have a good atmosphere in the team and have a lot of fun. There are so many smart people you work with here. And of course I also know: whatever you do next “In motorsport, that can’t be topped anymore. Seeing how everyone gives their best for you every day is really great.”