Another Milestone On Offer For F1 Champion Max Verstappen At Season-Ending Abu Dhabi GP

After a record-breaking year, Formula One champion Max Verstappen isn’t ready for 2023 to end.

Especially with the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.

Another victory would push him beyond former Red Bull great Sebastian Vettel into third place all-time.

“Of course, it’s an insane number. “We had a crazy, crazy year,” Verstappen remarked. “It will end at one point, but hopefully not too soon.”

Verstappen clinched his third straight title a few weeks ago and is aiming for a season-high 19th win — he held the previous record of 15, achieved last year — but he has his sights set on 2024.

“I love driving; that’s the foremost (thing), and winning is the best thing in Formula One,” remarked the Spaniard. “At the same time, I’m very focused on what’s ahead of me, and hopefully, we will have a competitive car again next year and continue that momentum.”

Additional goals will be next year, including chasing a fourth F1 title to equal Vettel and Alain Prost and closing in on seven-time F1 champions Michael Schumacher (91 triumphs) and Lewis Hamilton (103) for the most race wins.

However, Verstappen is only 26 years old and has plenty of time to close the gap.

His highlights for 2024?

“Winning the comeback race in Miami was great, I think that was an important one,” he told reporters. “Winning in Suzuka (Japan), after the tough race we had in Singapore (when Ferrari won).”

It’s difficult to imagine now that Verstappen leads Red Bull colleague Sergio Pérez by 276 points — the equivalent of 11 victories — yet they were neck and neck entering the fifth race of the season.

Pérez declared himself a championship contender after winning two of the first four races, a claim he backed up by securing pole position at the Miami GP in May.

Verstappen blew qualification, began eighth, and still won. Pérez never recovered, and the title was never in doubt after that.

“Max has just been incredible this year; no one thought we could be better than 2022,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner remarked. “You have to start talking about him among the greatest names in the sport.” He’s still got a lot of racing ahead in him.”

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari has not won since the Austrian Grand Prix in July last year.

“To be honest, it’s been a disappointing season,” he added. “After last year, we wanted to try and fight for the championship, (but) after the first race (this year), we straight away understood how difficult it would be.”

Leclerc’s brilliant final-lap pass on Perez to finish second at last weekend’s Las Vegas GP showed he is in good form, raising optimism for 2024 when he is likely to have a faster, more dependable car.

“There’s a big gap to fill,” he remarked. “Hopefully we’ll come back stronger next year with a car that’s capable of winning.”

Red Bull’s supremacy has left others with little to compete with. But something is at stake this weekend for both Ferrari and Mercedes: finishing second in the constructors’ championship.

Mercedes leads by 4 points (392-388), although Leclerc has podiums in two of the last three races.

“Momentum is good but the big work remains to be done on track,” Leclerc said. “We will have to put everything together in order to fight them and beat them in the constructors’ championship.”

His teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. won the Singapore GP two months ago and is the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race this year.

Mercedes driver George Russell believes the difference will be made on race day.

“We’re going in with an open mind,” he said. “In qualifying, I think they will have slightly the upper hand, as they’ve tended to do so this season, but come Sunday, I think it will be a different story.”

A flight from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi is about 8,000 miles long and takes nearly 20 hours.

There are better methods for fatigued drivers and team workers to travel at the end of a 22-race season.

“It’s a little difficult to understand what time zone you’re in,” Verstappen added.

It’s not good for the environment, either.

“It’s a little bit odd that we’re on the other side of the world before coming here, especially when you’re talking about sustainability,” commented Verstappen. “It’s probably not very sustainable.” Not just for the emissions, but also for the human body.”

Following Russell in first place were Daniel Ricciardo of AlphaTauri and Felipe Drugovich, an Aston Martin reserve. The majority of the big names stayed home as nine of the ten teams completed one of their mandated young driver test days.

Leclerc topped the second practice ahead of Norris and Verstappen. After nine minutes, Sainz lost control of his car going out of Turn 3 and crashed sideways into the crash barriers, resulting in a red flag.

After 25 minutes, drivers resumed, but another red flag was displayed when Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg lost the rear of his car at Turn 1.

SOURCE – (ap)