Lewis Hamilton ruled the Formula 1 grid during the turbo hybrid era. The seven-time world champion went on to grab 103 race wins and register several other records. But since 2021, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has taken over that mantle from the Briton. After winning his 59th career Grand Prix on Sunday at Imola, the Dutchman has overtaken Hamilton in one of the most prestigious F1 records.
Verstappen has now surpassed Hamilton’s win rate in the sport (30.38%). With 59 wins from 192 starts, the #1 driver boasts a 30.73% win rate, making him the fourth-highest overall in the history of F1. Only the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari, and Jim Clark have a higher win percentage than the 26-year-old.
Max now has the highest win percentage in F1
Max: 30.73%
Hamilton: 30.38%— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) May 19, 2024
Out of the first seven races of the 2024 season, Max Verstappen has already won five. The Australian GP saw him retire with mechanical issues on lap three of the race. Verstappen then won the very next race at Suzuka before falling short at the Miami Grand Prix.
After the 2024 Miami GP, which saw Lando Norris bag his maiden F1 win, Verstappen’s tally stood at 58 Grand Prix wins out of 191 race starts. This put him just behind Hamilton with a 30.36% win percentage. However, his race-day heroics at Imola now see him jump arguably the greatest F1 driver ever.
Is Max Verstappen’s title defence threatened after 2024 Emilia Romagna GP?
Max Verstappen may have extended his gap in the Drivers’ Championship after winning the Grand Prix on Sunday. However, considering how the race panned out, many experts believe that Verstappen’s dominant run in the sport is on the verge of ending.
Starting from pole, Verstappen pulled a gap to McLaren’s Lando Norris in the early stages of the race. After the rounds of pit-stops, the gap was stable at around six seconds. However, with ten laps remaining, the Dutchman started struggling with degradation.
“verstappen’s complaining about..”
lando: i see i see i see! all good im pushing mate pic.twitter.com/v6sdJG89o0— ray (@ln4norris) May 19, 2024
This gave Norris the impetus to embark on a late-race charge. With three laps to go, Norris had two massive moments coming out of the Tamburello chicane and the Villeneuve chicane respectively.
As a result, he had taken too much life out of his tires. However, that did not stop him from still trying his best. Norris then eventually missed out on the win by just 0.7 seconds. But back-to-back strong results from McLaren show that they are on the right trajectory to catch Red Bull this season.
