Max Verstappen can equalize Michael Schumacher-Sebastian Vettel joint record if he wins 4 more races in 2022

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his ninth win of the 2022 season at the Belgian Grand Prix and increased his lead in the championship standings.

Taking the ninth win in the 2022 championship season at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has created a significant gap in the championship standings against his rivals.

Currently, the reigning champion stands at P1 with 286 points, followed by his teammate Sergio Perez in P2 with 191 points.

A special helmet for Zandvoort and this one is very personal for me

Returning here as a World Champion is a great moment for me to appreciate all the effort my dad put into my career. That’s why we made a new version of his iconic design.

1:2 & 1:4 🔗 https://t.co/KEopNGGUyU pic.twitter.com/F7lBobTzEq

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) August 30, 2022

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc became Verstappen’s rival this season as Ferrari bounced back to the top and Mercedes started off a rather disappointing season.

But Leclerc held the lead in the standings until only the first five races. Since then, the Monegasque has been trying to get back to the top but has failed. Due to this, Leclerc currently stands at P3 with 186 points as he sees the chances of battling for the title slipping away.

As the season progresses it looks like Verstappen will yet again claim the title. However, this is not the only record that the Dutchman will be breaking this season.

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Max Verstappen will enter the list of elites

Data shows that if the Red Bull driver continues to win 4 more races this season, he will match a record jointly held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.

The single-season record of wins by a driver currently stands at 13. It is jointly held by Schumacher with Ferrari in 2004 and Vettel with Red Bull in 2013.

As Red Bull seems to continue to dominate this season, it looks like it will not be a problem for Verstappen to match the record.

Going into the upcoming Dutch GP this weekend, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto revealed that the team is now relying on Verstappen’s DNF in the remaining races.

“The gap to Max [Verstappen] is very high. It will not be sufficient for Charles to win all the races, or to finish ahead of him. So we count on Max not finishing races,” said Binotto.

Also Read: Ferrari boss relies on 28 race winner’s DNFs instead of their own merit to win championship