Max Verstappen's Perfect Ten: Dominance Unleashed in F1 Record Books!
Sep.4 - Max Verstappen was "quite nervous" on Sunday before securing his tenth consecutive Formula 1 race win - an outright record in the sport's history.
That is the claim of Dr Helmut Marko, although Dutchman Verstappen smiled in response: "I wasn't nervous".
But after the chequered flag, Red Bull's Marko had claimed: "Max was relatively nervous before this tenth win, where normally he isn't.
"The record means a lot to Max so I hope that has now been resolved because I don't think ten wins is the end either."
According to Mercedes' Toto Wolff, however, ten race wins on the trot is nothing special to celebrate.
"I don't know if Max cares about these records because it wouldn't be important to me. It's something for Wikipedia and no one reads that."
Wolff's comments come after Lewis Hamilton suggested Verstappen is having an easier time dominating because his Red Bull teammates are not on his level.
"Our situation was slightly different," said the Mercedes boss, "because we had two drivers within the team who competed against each other."
Verstappen at Monza had dismissed that kind of talk as jealousy, especially as Marko thinks the 25-year-old could go completely unbeaten for the rest of the season.
"A technical problem can hinder us or a crash or something like that, but nothing else can," said the 80-year-old Austrian at Monza.
"Max has never won in Singapore so he will want to do that, and if he can win there too, I am optimistic that we can win the rest of the races as well."
Marko admits that Verstappen's only real scare on Sunday was some engine overheating.
"We had to pay a little attention to that, especially as Carlos Sainz was fighting so hard."
Indeed, Sainz put up a strong fight as Ferrari bounced back from its dire pace just a week ago at Zandvoort, with team boss Frederic Vasseur insisting: "At least we could fight with them.
"They were a bit faster, but we kept up well - it was maybe a tenth or two off."
Top Ferrari engineer Jock Clear says Sunday's result is good news for the Maranello team.
"The parts we developed for Monza worked exactly as expected, showing that we understand how the car works."
And unlike Wolff, Vasseur was not shy to compliment Verstappen's new F1 record.
"It's not just about the last ten races," said the Frenchman. "I don't think he's made a single mistake in the last two years. Although of course it's easier not to make a mistake when you're in the best car.
"But we saw today how he handled the situation of immense pressure from Carlos. He knew he had a pace advantage so he just waited and waited."
Famous former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi also hailed Verstappen's achievement.
"Winning two in a row is already difficult in Formula 1," he smiled. "We are not just talking about the best car, but also about the best driver.
"I remember from my time when Williams were lapping cars after 15 laps, but that kind of dominance is really out of the question now, isn't it?
"The competition is very strong. Everyone is close to each other, except for one: Max."
Fernando Alonso agrees: "He's the best in qualifying, he's the best in the race, he's the best in the duels. They're just incredible together."
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What a churlish man Wolff is. It is an amazing record by Max.
Combined with HAM trying to downplay the strenght of Max's team mates compared to him , they are both trying to downplay the achievement by Max.
What a miserable pair.
Merc doesn't deserve any success while that pair are there.
Toto is suffering from a severe case of sour grapes combined with extreme sarcasm! He obviously has lost connection with the real world, with his suggestion that nobody reads Wikipedia and Max's achievement is nothing special.
Toto is becoming a dag!
Toto and Hammy are pathetic. Jealous of what hammy could never accomplish. Back when the Mercedes car was dominate Hammy was always given the most advantage to finish well. In qualifying he was always given the tow from his teammate but seldom did his teammates get a tow from him. During the races he was always given the most advantageous race strategy, how many times did Mercedes make his teammates swap position on track. Hammys always been a prima donna defined on line as "a very temperamental person with an inflated view of their own talent or importance:" this definition fits hammy perfectly and should include pictures of Toto and Hammy beside it.
Problem is Tommy when you have been in the limelight & on top of the podium for years you tend to take it for granted that you should still be there "sad"
Demeaning RB's dominance is, as Les wrote, churlish. The entire operation is just plain better than the rest. BUT, here comes the doc's arrogance, and we know where that ends. In this instance, he should learn a lesson from the totster's tumble from the top and be more like Horny and Max. Enjoy the view from the top of the mountain and control the gloating. As Vettel wisely opined a decade ago, it won't last forever.
At least LH had 3 world champions as Team mates, if he had had no hopers like Perez etc instead of Botas and Rosberg then he'd be on 150 wins and at least 9 WDC's.
This will always be the cloud over MV, if Perez gets to drive next year it will be on MV say so not Horner wanting 2 fast drivers.
Put Vettel in hammys Merc back in the day and Vettels a 10 time WDC and hammys still just got 1 under his belt.
Is hat wishful dreaming Tommy?
Sorry that
Just remind me, who are the 3 world champions he had as team mates?
Shrop', I hate it but he got ya' this time. ALO, BUT, ROS. Please, please don't let that happen again. :):) You're the only poster on the site who gives awardguy the attention he craves. Do NOT let him/her best you. lol
Alonso and Button were wdc when they became her team mate Rosberg wasnt a champion as a teammate
No he wasn't, nice one Shropp.
You are, of course, correct. But, his usual twisting & stretching facts leaves him with a factual statement, Lewie did partner with 3 WDC's.
A better comparison of HAM/VER teammates would be BOT & PER. Both excellent racing drivers, but neither a WDC threat.
Can only stretch the truth so far after that it becomes a lie/fantasy, and fantasies are one thing f9 is good at, sodd all else mind
Yep shoddypost has trouble with facts, but no trouble wiht KKK membership.
LH has had to win races with 3 WDC as team mates, countless races in the same car, remind me how many races has MV race against a current or former WDC in the same car.
Is that splitting hairs?
Even someone as clueless as you should know that.
It is shame for a man like Wolff to act like a school yard 13 year old girl. If these childish comments are meant to make Lew feel better about himself, it isn’t a good idea. Makes them both look “small”.
Susan, I don't know if you saw the totster's post-race interview, but his expressions and demeanor told the whole story. Utter defeat.
Yes I did. Wolff has been around F1 to know that this happens to every team. Being disappointed is one thing, but to diminish others success, is shameful behavior from a man of his stature. Lew I understand.
Agreed, you are absolutely correct. I'm just an old softie when it comes to falling from the mountain top.
The difference being that Torger came into f1 and won virtually from day one because of the work his predecessors had done, hes not had bad patches,he lacks the experience of losing, 2021 shows us that and its Obviously still affecting both Lucy and her Dad
Adding to that Torger has overseen 7 wdc with Mercedes this year Horner will equal that record but with 2 different mfrs So who is the more successful manager ?
Horny, and anyone who disputes that is in dreamland. Good point. If it weren't for the doc and Max's father I would rate RB as in contention for GOAT.
All the same old same old comments above. There is no doubt that Max is a superb driver, they all are but it’s to easy to forget that they all need the best car to shine in the results.
Just seeing what a reinvigorated Ferrari ( or Williams)can do to a race should prove that even without a win.
Not all drivers are the same, no matter what car they are driving, hence Perez. The combination of driver and car makes the difference. Perez is not comfortable with his car ,Vettel never was in tuned to the setup of the hybrid, either the Ferrari or Aston Martin. Like most sports, it is a head game, anticipation intuition and understanding. Not all drivers have that that abiility. Only time will tell.
I dunno about that Susan , SV gave it a fair crack in the Ferrari, he was leading till he slid off in Germany and who can forget the famous No , No , im having the 1st position board lol.
I suspect drugs, it has to be lol