Max Verstappen started the Azerbaijan GP from P3 but drove a stellar race to win and extend his lead at the top of the standings.
Verstappen is just 24-years old, but has been in Formula 1 since 2015. Ever since his arrival in F1, he was billed as a legend in the making and he delivered to his potential after winning the World Title in 2021.
Before 2021, the sport was dominated by Mercedes since the start of the turbo-hybrid era. Even then, Verstappen was regularly in the mix for podium finishes, and even race wins sometimes. His win in Baku last week made him the most successful Red Bull driver of all time in terms of podiums surpassing Sebastian Vettel’s record of 65 podiums.
Max Verstappen now has a podium at 2⃣9⃣ of the 3⃣1⃣ circuits he’s raced at.
Only Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton have secured podiums at more venues.#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/cbMD31fjNj
— F1 StatsGuru (@f1statsguru) June 15, 2022
Another record which the Dutchman added to was, getting a podium finish in yet another track where he hadn’t before. Verstappen has raced in 31 circuits in his F1 career. His win in Baku means that he now has a podium finish in 29 of those circuits. The tracks where he didn’t earn a top three finish till this date are Monza and Mugello.
F1 raced in Mugello back in 2020 as a one-off event, to cover for the cancelled races due to the Covid 19 pandemic. It’s unlikely that the sport will return there in the near future, but Verstappen has a chance at making it 30/31 when F1 travels to Monza this year.
Max Verstappen feels that salary caps imposed on drivers are unfair
There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the potential introduction of salary caps in F1. All teams adhere to a budget cap, which came into effect this season and that has caused a bit of controversy.
F1 drivers like Vettel and Hamilton have openly criticized the introduction of salary caps. According to them, the sport is in a very good place financially, which makes it unfair for drivers to not get a deserved share of the paycheck. Verstappen too agrees with this.
“It is completely wrong” ❌
Max Verstappen does not support a driver salary cap in F1, stating that with the amount of money being made throughout the sport, the drivers should NOT be the ones to have their potential earnings limited 💵 pic.twitter.com/Po4QFWims5
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 10, 2022
“I think no one really knows where it is going to go,” he said. “But from my side, it’s completely wrong. “I think at the moment, F1 is becoming more and more popular. And everyone is making more and more money, including the teams and management.”
“Everyone is benefitting. So why should the drivers, with their IP rights and everything, be capped? We actually bring the show and put our lives at risk. Because we do, eventually. So for me, it’s completely wrong.”
