Max Verstappen’s F1 wins ranked
While Max Verstappen has been rewriting the Formula 1 record book during the early years of his career the Red Bull driver has already notched up eight Grand Prix victories.
From his stunning Red Bull debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix to his most recent win in Brazil last year, almost all of Verstappen’s F1 triumphs have been delivered with some dramatic storylines. But which one can be called his best so far?
Working in reverse order, Crash.net decides which of Verstappen’s F1 wins rank as his best.
2018 Mexican Grand Prix
While Max Verstappen has been rewriting the Formula 1 record book during the early years of his career the Red Bull driver has already notched up eight Grand Prix victories.
From his stunning Red Bull debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix to his most recent win in Brazil last year, almost all of Verstappen’s F1 triumphs have been delivered with some dramatic storylines. But which one can be called his best so far?
Working in reverse order, Crash.net decides which of Verstappen’s F1 wins rank as his best.
2018 Mexican Grand Prix
In a similar story to his 2017 victory in Mexico, Verstappen bolted to the front at the first corner with an overtake on pole-sitting Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
An early pit stop put Verstappen behind the Ferrari pair but a key overtake on Kimi Raikkonen ensured he kept a gap to Lewis Hamilton and Ricciardo behind him before he regained the lead once Sebastian Vettel made his pit stop.
The race played into Verstappen’s hands as the Mercedes pair suffered with tyre management while Ricciardo suffered an engine failure running in second place which allowed the Dutch driver to ease to his second win of the second and consecutive victories at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
2018 Austrian Grand Prix
On paper it looked like a race Verstappen dominated but an aggressive opening lap and smart strategy paved the way for his triumph and Red Bull’s first home win in F1.
Verstappen’s attack on Kimi Raikkonen on the opening lap to take third place would be vital later on, as he gained a place after Valtteri Bottas retired on Lap 11 with a hydraulics issue. Taking advantage of the Bottas-triggered Virtual Safety Car period, he pitted to gain the lead once Lewis Hamilton made his stop later in the race.
Verstappen had been set to come under late pressure from the likes of Hamilton and Raikkonen his due to his earlier stop, but once the Mercedes driver suffered a mechanical retirement on Lap 62 the Dutch driver could manage the gap to the Finn in the Ferrari and take victory at the Red Bull Ring.
2017 Mexican Grand Prix
While Verstappen wasn’t to know it at the time, his charge into the lead on the opening lap effectively won him the race, as he got the better of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel – both in the final fight for the F1 world title that year – with each driver picking up damage and needing to pit at the end of the first lap.
With those two out of contention for the win, Verstappen could comfortably keep clear of his remaining rivals, while he was also aided by Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo dropping out with an engine issue.
Fortune was on Verstappen’s side that day, having somehow avoided a puncture after clashing with Vettel on the first lap, as every Renault-powered car retired with an issue except himself and Pierre Gasly who finished a distant 13th place.
After the race, Red Bull believed the reason Verstappen didn’t suffer any engine issues was because he could run in clean air at the front compared to those who retired.
2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
Despite ongoing engine deficits to Mercedes with the Renault power units, Verstappen produced a stunning display to win the final F1 race at Sepang.
With the Ferrari pair out of contention due to Sebastian Vettel starting from the back following an engine issue in qualifying before Kimi Raikkonen lost his front row starting position due to a separate engine problem on his way to the grid, Verstappen beat Valtteri Bottas into second place at the first corner to slot in behind pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen made surprisingly light work of taking the lead off Hamilton by passing him into Turn 1 at the start of Lap 4 before driving off into the distance. With an unmatched race pace, Verstappen won comfortably and crossed the line over 12 seconds clear of Hamilton.
2019 Brazilian Grand Prix
Just missing out on the rostrum, Verstappen’s victory at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix was a classic demonstration of both his use of smart strategy and overtaking skills.
After starting from pole position, Verstappen lost his lead to Lewis Hamilton through an undercut during the first round of pit stops but almost instantly fought back by overtaking the reigning F1 world champion on Lap 23.
When a Safety Car period was triggered by the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, the Red Bull team called Verstappen in for fresh tyres which dropped him back behind Hamilton. But with the aid of fresh rubber, Verstappen repassed the British driver just after the race restart.
The drama wasn’t over yet as a second Safety Car was needed following an all-Ferrari crash and this time Hamilton went for fresh tyres in his bid to fight back.
But the Mercedes driver, who dropped to third place as a result of his stop, clashed with the sister Red bull of Alexander Albon to allow Verstappen to ease to his third victory of the season and tighten his grip on third place in the 2019 drivers’ world championship.
2019 German Grand Prix
Making the podium in the list of Verstappen’s F1 wins is his triumph at the wet and wild 2019 German Grand Prix. A poor start in tricky conditions saw the Dutch driver slip from second to third behind Valtteri Bottas on the opening lap, before he suffered double drama when he spun on Lap 26 following an early switch to dry tyres.
But with drivers crashing out all around him, including the likes of Charles Leclerc and Bottas while Hamilton skidded into a tyre barrier and suffered a separate spin, Verstappen held his nerve in an incredibly mature drive to keep clear of danger and deliver his second win of the season.
2016 Spanish Grand Prix
A race which will live long in the highlights of F1 history. During the build-up to the race, Red Bull announced a dramatic driver switch which saw Verstappen promoted to the team from Toro Rosso while Daniil Kvyat went in the opposite direction after a run of poor performances.
Verstappen, not one to get overawed by an occasion, instantly adapted to his new team but even he wouldn’t have imagined how his Red Bull debut would play out.
After the dramatic opening lap collision between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton saw both the Mercedes drivers crash out, the Dutch driver found himself in the podium positions fighting new teammate Daniel Ricciardo plus Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.
With both teams opting to split strategies between each of its drivers, Verstappen and Raikkonen profited from the one-stop plan to leapfrog Ricciardo and Vettel. Verstappen held track position in the lead over experienced hand Raikkonen and defended boldly on worn tyres to win on his first Red Bull appearance. It was the day Verstappen’s F1 star status truly arrived.
2019 Austrian Grand Prix
Taking top spot in Verstappen’s wins tally (at least for now) is his triumph at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen started the race terribly as he produced a dreadful getaway from the grid to drop from his impressive second place grid position and down to eighth place by the end of the opening lap.
Going into the ninth round of the 2019 F1 season, Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas had shared all opening eight race wins which included six one-two finishes. Verstappen, at the start of the Red Bull-Honda partnership, had enjoyed a solid but unspectacular start to the season with two third places, four fourth places and one fifth place.
And after throwing away his front row start position, many expected the Mercedes pair to storm clear once again.
Verstappen, though, wasn’t set to let this one slip, fresh from his memories of winning in Spielberg 12 months earlier and he produced a stunning charge through the field to climb from P8 to P2 with a handful of laps remaining.
The Dutch driver’s race pace was untouchable in the closing stages as he reeled in Charles Leclerc, who was on the cusp of his maiden F1 victory at the time, and with three laps to go Verstappen dived up the inside at the Turn 3 hairpin to force the Ferrari driver wide and duly take the lead in front his jubilant followers.
Verstappen clinched victory and in a mark of his supremacy he finished the race one lap ahead of Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly having been behind him on the opening lap.
But Verstappen did have to sweat a little on the final result as the FIA Stewards investigated his late lunge on Leclerc before declaring it a racing incident to confirm Verstappen’s consecutive win at Red Bull’s home race and cap his most stunning drive.
