Lewis Hamilton passed on his congratulations to Max Verstappen for setting a new record of 10 consecutive grands prix wins in a row.
But what stopped Formula 1’s most successful driver of all time from doing the same when he enjoyed a car of comparable dominance to the one Verstappen currently has?“I had strong team mates,” said Hamilton. “Valtteri [Bottas] was quick on a lot of times.
Verstappen’s ongoing victory run is twice as long as Hamilton’s best. Although Bottas undoubtedly interrupted Hamilton’s winning runs during their five-year spell as team mates, he did not end either of his two longest winning runs.
The second time Hamilton managed to win five in a row was in late 2020, now with Bottas alongside him in the Mercedes garage. He was unable to win a sixth successive race on that occasion firstly because he caught Covid-19 which ruled him out of the Sakhir Grand Prix. That race was almost won by Hamilton’s stand-in, George Russell, but instead Sergio Perez triumphed for Racing Point. Hamilton returned at the next race in Abu Dhabi and finished third, Verstappen winning.
Verstappen’s success means Alberto Ascari and Sebastian Vettel are no longer the joint holders of the record for most consecutive race wins. What stopped them from turning nine into ten?
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Ascari won six races in 1952, and in 1953 won the season opener, skipped the Indianapolis 500 (then a points-paying world championship round) and returned to F1 with victory in the next two races. He took pole position for the French Grand Prix at Reims, but after being overtaken on lap one he couldn’t get back ahead despite remaining in victory contention all the way to the chequered flag. He finished fourth, 4.6 seconds behind the winner, Mike Hawthorn.
While Ascari returned to the top step in the race after his victory run ended, Vettel had to wait another 20 rounds between his 39th and 40th F1 wins.
Verstappen’s record-breaking Italian Grand Prix victory last weekend was his 47th F1 win and his fourth in Italy, and came from his 53rd front row start. It was also his 91st podium finish. He has now been on the podium for 15 grands prix in a row which puts him level with Fernando Alonso in having the third longest podium streak in F1 history.
During the race Verstappen surpassed 2,500 laps led in his career. His 33rd points finish in a row gives him the joint-second longest such run.
Verstappen’s winning time of one hour, 13 minutes, 41.143s is the second-shortest of the 74 editions of the race that have been held. This was due in part to the race distance being cut by two laps due to the problems at the start.
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The shortest Italian Grand Prix was won by Niki Lauda in 1978. On that occasion the distance was cut to 40 laps instead of 52, due to the terrible crash at the original start which ultimately claimed the life of Ronnie Peterson.
Red Bull are now on 106 victories, and have won 15 grands prix in a row, with Perez helping deliver their 28th one-two result. That’s the sixth time this year the team have filled the top two steps on the podium, and the 14th time in Perez’s career that he has finished second. He matches world champions Mika Hakkinen and Jody Scheckter for runner-up finishes.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jnr took his fourth F1 pole, and only his ninth ever front row start, then converted it into his 16th podium by finishing third. He matched 1961 world champion Phil Hill on the latter two achievements, and in the race also reached the landmark of having led 100 laps in F1.
Sainz hadn’t been on the podium since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, marking the longest trophy drought for a Ferrari driver since team mate Charles Leclerc went 21 races without finishing in the top three across the 2020 and ‘21 seasons.
McLaren’s rookie Oscar Piastri impressively clocked up his fifth consecutive Q3 appearance. He also led a grand prix for the first time and claimed his first fastest lap in the race. His team mate Lando Norris’s eighth place finish means he is on the second-best scoring run of his F1 career having taken 67 points over the last six races.
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Alexander Albon matched Williams’ best result of 2023 by coming home seventh, which remains his best finishing position of the last 35 races, and sixth on the grid was his second best qualifying result of the season.
Aston Martin had nothing to smile about, taking their smallest points haul of the year. Alonso delivered both of those points by finishing ninth, his joint worst race result since joining the team, and tenth on the grid marked his worst qualifying result as an Aston Martin driver.
But his team mate Lance Stroll had an even more damning weekend in terms of performance, as 16th place was his worst result in a race he has met the chequered flag in since the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix, and he was the slowest driver to set a lap in Q1 for the ninth time in his career. While Alonso is the only driver on the grid to reach Q3 every time this year, Stroll has only done so in half of the races.
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Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Italian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2023 Italian Grand Prix
- Despite close battles at Monza, F1 drivers want more powerful DRS
- Monza “frustrating” for Alonso but Aston Martin expect better form in coming races
- F1 changed rules to stop Mercedes in 2021 but we won’t ‘cry foul’ now – Wolff
- McLaren will bring ‘follow-up to Austria upgrade’ before focusing on 2024 car
- Magnussen explains why his driving style rarely works with the Haas VF-23
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
6th September 2023, 12:21
It was an underhanded comment intended to diminish Verstappen’s accomplishment. I’m not sure why Hamilton does this, perhaps it’s the influence of people around him (or perhaps it’s the other way around with them being influenced by Lewis), but it just doesn’t show very good sportsmanship and that’s a shame. It should be okay to compliment Verstappen on his achievement without dragging his teammates through the dirt.
The factual truth is Mercedes were only ever able to win 10 consecutive races once and that was in 2016 from Monaco up to and including Singapore and in that year Lewis famously dropped the ball to a teammate he probably would’ve beaten any other year. All other years the team itself didn’t manage to win 10 races in a row, so there’s no realistic scenario where even if Lewis had a “weak” teammate he could’ve beaten this record, such is life.
N
6th September 2023, 12:29
“It was an underhanded comment intended to diminish Verstappen’s accomplishment.”
But, it’s also true.
Formula 1 fan
6th September 2023, 12:31
Besides the fact that it is true or not, (I disagree with your assessment, but that is a matter of debate and only time will tell we are comparing a 25 year old with a 38 year old) the issue is more that this is just a remark that shows you are not able to be gracious and you are lowering yourself. Why is it even needed to say this? What does it do for him and for Toto?
The Dolphins
6th September 2023, 19:55
It highlights that Mercedes, in Hamilton’s era, was a team where (most of the time) team mates were equal and given a fair fighting chance. I would argue in the last 2 seasons with Bottas he was the de facto number 2 which was unfair to Valtteri. In the Hamilton-Rosberg pairing the drivers were very equally treated, so much that Nico rightfully retired after his championship. Currently with Hamilton-Russell the pair are very closely matched and are again given equal resources. Red Bull, on the order hand, have historically had a strong bias towards one driver (Seb over Mark, Max over anyone else.)
So Lewis’ wording may be incorrect, or he is misquoted, but it stands to reason that at least his teammates were picked on the basis of being strong enough drivers to challenge the champion and were given a fair fighting chance. Red Bull on the order hand lean more toward the #1-#2 hierarchy, which does benefit Max in his achievements. That is what it does for Lewis, it opens a door for debate in the age old question “who was the best”
cdavman (@cdavman)
6th September 2023, 12:52
As you point out Mercedes were unable to really string together enough wins in a row anyway, which actually therefore goes on to prove that this current era of Red Bull dominance is far greater than any period of the Mercedes era. Despite those trying to argue that the Mercedes era was more “boring” and that they were more dominant, the facts show that Red Bull are wiping the floor with everyone this year and are far more dominant than the Mercedes years.
Unwittingly, you also go on to prove Hamilton’s point. Even when there was an opportunity for Mercedes to win a lot of races in a row, Hamilton didn’t win them all. Why? Because he had a team mate capable of taking regular wins too. Whereas, despite the Red Bull being so utterly dominant this year, Perez has been pretty anonymous for the most part.
Perhaps Hamilton’s point should’ve more specifically pointed out that when both of them were in cars capable of winning regularly enough to take that many wins, Verstappen has had worse team mates than Hamilton has.
We also have to remember that driver’s don’t just say this stuff out of nowhere. They’re typically asked a probing question by the media in an attempt to get that article worthy soundbite. And this one gives the media something to dine out on until Singapore.
Gimi
6th September 2023, 13:44
Currently this year RB is the king of domination that is undeniable and they have a big chance of being the first team to win all races, however if it ends like it is another thing and we shall see if they made it at the end of the season, however Mercedes domination was not 1 year, they sweep all championships from 2014 to 2020, that’s 7 years of domination (only 2017/2018 can be close seasons) and another 1 of being the best car or one of the best in 2021, we can come back and compare both once we get to 2028 to see if Red Bull won everything for 7 years.
And Bottas was pretty much Max’s Perez, just better on qualy, he was usually nowhere near fast in the races, put Max on the 2017-2021 Mercedes and I think we wouldn’t have those 2017/2018 seasons of Lewis being challenged by another team and maybe the first perfect season would have been Mercedes in 2019 or 2020.
I don’t get why there is this movement of downplaying the Mercedes years, sure they had a fight in 2017/2018 thanks to Ferrari super engine and Bottas being trash, but still they won half of the races at worst and all the other seasons are 2022’s RB level and above, just because Max is having a 1988 season by himself this year doesn’t erase Mercedes 5 years (if you don’t want to count 2017/2018) of being by far the best car.
Sure they had a fight between teammates once or twice instead of Max just dominating Perez, but really that’s only not boring when you are a Mercedes fan or when you are watching the season review years after.
SteveP
6th September 2023, 18:25
Put two comparable drivers in a good car, and they will split the points and probably let a more unbalanced team take the WDC.
Proof? Alonso/Hamilton 2007, Kimi Räikkönen won by one point from Hamilton and Alonso:
Kimi 110
Lewis 109
Fernando 109
For the “this is a record” people – that was the last time Ferrari won WDC. A fact my colleague mentions at regular intervals (I think he still has a Kimi poster somewhere, but he doesn’t like Ferrari.)
Obviously, because his detractors say Lewis is rubbish, Fernando is equally rubbish.
(Nitpickers might say Fernando was slightly more rubbish as his points total came with the same number of wins and one fewer 2nds hence Lewis classified 2nd and Fernando 3rd in WDC)
I think it’s because “the Mercedes years” are “Hamilton years” and as someone else put it “there’s some nuance about Hamilton…”
Gimi
6th September 2023, 22:53
Sure this may have happened in 2007, but it didn’t in 2014, 2015 or 2016 or in 1988-1989 for the older fans, there’s no reason for it, put two incredible drivers in the by far best team and they just dominate a season full of 1-2, for 2007 to happen there needs to be another top team in that year and in recent F1 history that doesn’t happen that much.
Put Max in Mercedes instead of Bottas, I can safely bet on a Mercedes WDC/WCC and them breaking 1-2 finishes records pretty much every single year.
Hamilton was great all those years, Bottas wasn’t.
sethje (@seth-space)
6th September 2023, 15:50
you could argue that the mercedes in those years were so dominant that very able driver could win.
The reason a mediocre driver like Bottas won only showed the inconsistency of lewis.
Nick
6th September 2023, 15:58
Bottas had 10 wins in 100 careers races with Mercedes. Checo has 6 wins in 58 races with Red Bull. They’re very similar but Checo has been slightly better than Bottas.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
6th September 2023, 13:44
@sjaakfoo It should be noted that Red Bull holds the other record with 9 victories. Mercedes were dominant but they didn’t have a perfect car which Red Bull does when it has both aero superiority with engine performance and reliability so they can string these records.
It’s also true that Lewis had much more competitive teammates and faced competition from other constructors during the season so it was more difficult.
At present, the Red Bull winning is an accomplishment but if they lost a race this season it would be a much more significant accomplishment than probably winning all of them given the fact that they are winning easily at Monza by managing the cars. It’s not gotten to the point where Max can pit to take a bathroom break or spend some time with family while leading the race but we may get there eventually.
That Guy
6th September 2023, 15:42
The big difference is in concistency. I don’t think the RedBull dominance is much more than Mercedes in 2020, but the RedBull team and driver are delivering every race.
Monza for example, in 2020 Lewis had pole position by over 8 tenths. After 17 laps, he was 14 seconds ahead. Due to (his own) error he managed to give it away, and Gasly won the race. Had nothing to do with teammates, but concistancy is the key. And the longer the streak, the closer you come to a mistake, from either the driver, the engineers, the strategists, or even circumstance out of your own influence, like safetycars, red flags, etc.
Even a shower (which we’ve had a few times this season) could mix things up massively, but in those circumstances Verstappen and the team just delivered.
So yes, I do think it’s a great effort, and that’s why it has never happend before.
Facts&Stats
6th September 2023, 14:12
That’s of course only part of the story: Look at the race before Monaco (Spain 2026). Mercedes was clearly fastest, but the drivers took each other out. If they had won that race, then the streak would’ve been 21; also clear dominance.
And there has been another sequence of 10 wins for Mercedes: Brazil 2018 through France 2019.
Gimi
6th September 2023, 14:31
That should be 2016, and really they should have won that entire year, only the Spain crash and Malaysia’s Engine blown plus Rosberg being hit at the start stopped them so they could easily had a streak of 27.
From 2014 to 2016 (The Rosberg/Hamilton era), they won 51 of 59 races, 86% of the races for 3 years, RB 2022-2023 is now at the same 86% thanks to this season, but in 2022 it was ‘only’ 77%.
And the pole positions is godlike domination, 56 of 59 races a Mercedes was on pole, 94.9%. RB is only at 50%.
Facts&Stats
6th September 2023, 16:05
Correct about that (thanks), and all you state after that ;)
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 16:42
Yes, absolutely, mercedes had a more dominant car overall, also in terms of gap during races, especially in 2014-2016, but red bull delivers more consistently, with verstappen at least.
drmouse (@drmouse)
6th September 2023, 16:39
It was put to Hamilton by a reporter that Bottas may have prevented him from reaching a similar record. This wasn’t Hamilton going out of his way to attack Max, it was him answering a direct (and loaded) question honestly.
But of course, some people will ignore this and see it as a direct slight by Lewis…
Mayrton
8th September 2023, 7:53
That’s too easy. He can still make a choice in how to answer. He could have said. “Maybe, but I also realise through the many ‘Valtteri, it’s James’ messages I have more wins on my name. So I am mostly grateful for that and am pleased for Max reaching this record”.
BamBoomBots
6th September 2023, 18:17
So if anyone in charge of this website reads this, consider handing out IP address bans to commenters like this. This is an obvious flamebait and it ruins your website. Such behaviour is not to be tolerated I’d say.
Cronies
7th September 2023, 7:22
Nico won 7 in a row, with Hamilton as his team mate. Lewis had a messy Italian GP weekend, called himself “slow” at Zandvoordt. While one of the very best F1 drivers of all time, consistentancy at the level we seeing.g with Max now, is just not one of his hallmarks.
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
7th September 2023, 9:31
Agree. It’s better to just show the spirit and compliment a great achievement. I remember he became excessively salty during 2016 when Rosberg was having the rub of the green (and good performances too) so much so that I started disliking him whilst I’m usually always neutral to all.
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
7th September 2023, 9:32
Agree. It’s better to just show the spirit and compliment a great achievement. I remember he became excessively salty during 2016 when Rosberg was having the rub of the green (and good performances too) so much so that I started disliking him whilst I’m usually always neutral to all.
Mayrton
8th September 2023, 7:56
I strongly relate to that. Before that moment I could even call myself a fan of Lewis. But the behavior shown to Rosberg was really unbecoming. I guess it was the first time we saw the real Lewis.
Formula 1 fan
6th September 2023, 12:25
I find it actually quite funny, someone said earlier in a comment, you can only show your greatness when you can also show respect to others and to their achievements.
The whole ordeal does show me that I believe Hamilton and Toto Wolff are not at this level. Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn all showed how you can be gracious in losing as well.
This is for me also why I consider Hamilton an amazing driver, but not as one of the greats. (Ascari, Schumacher, Senna). And the same for Toto Wolff as a team boss. (Ross Brawn, Jean Todt)
For Max it is way too early to have a debate, for now we are witnessing something very special and with him getting older and not having to ‘prove’ he will become even more calm and even better.
I am just happy to have seen all of them drive (except Ascari)
N
6th September 2023, 12:32
“The whole ordeal does show me that I believe Hamilton and Toto Wolff are not at this level. Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn all showed how you can be gracious in losing as well.”
Did you not see the Hamilton’s congratulate the Verstappen’s in Abu Dhabi right after Lewis had just had his title robbed off him from right under his nose, in front of the entire viewing public?
Formula 1 fan
6th September 2023, 12:35
I believe his actions after and during these two years have not shown that level of grace no. And I assume you agree.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 16:44
I don’t agree with abu dhabi robbing hamilton about the 2021 title, if not for unlucky\unfair events versappen should already have been champion before the race started.
N
6th September 2023, 18:38
“I don’t agree with abu dhabi robbing hamilton about the 2021 title”
What a surprise.
Robert (@rob8k)
6th September 2023, 13:12
Is this the Schumacher that crashed into Villeneuve, or the Schumacher that stopped in Monaco on purpose. You have no idea how the questions were asked. For all you know, the interviewer could have asked why he didn’t win 10 in a row and he answered in a manner that promoted a fellow driver. He congratulated Max and promoted Valterri. I see nothing wrong here.
Formula 1 fan
6th September 2023, 13:32
Again, don’t be naive, this is a narrative that they are using, not just one interview. If anything Hamilton is great at answering questions and deflecting a question to wherever he wants to.
And yes to your point, Schumacher did do those things, just like Senna did, just like Hamilton has done and just like Verstappen has done or Alonso for that matter, they all do it, you are not a winner if you don’t try to do everything in your power, there is however one difference between the greats and Hamilton and that is him actually being humble to his rivals, and not showman humble, but genuinely being humble, like the others have been (bar Senna as he sadly passed away at his peak)
Robert (@rob8k)
6th September 2023, 13:37
Who is being naive now. What you describe is what every team does with there driver and promote them as a marketing tool. You are just showing you are cherry picking a driver you dislike which just shows to me that it’s pointless to engage any further with yourself.
Formula 1 fan
6th September 2023, 13:48
Funny you could not be further from the truth I am actually a Hamilton fan, but these last two years have really changed my perspective on him. It is amazing what he has meant for the sport especially in the UK, but these two years have ruined it for me a bit, and the same for Toto Wolff, I am not singling out a driver by the way I am singling out a team at the moment.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
6th September 2023, 16:22
@Formula 1 Fan
I think you do not comprehend how difficult it is to go through what Lewis and Toto went through especially since they are not ordinary folks but are extremely competitive.
In fact, these 2 years would be the main reason to a fan of Lewis as you claim to be. It’s very easy to be nice when you’re at the top racing by yourself like Max and you can win a race while managing your engine and overtaking the car on pole position.
It’s a bit harder to be nice when you’re fighting with teammates or other teams like Lewis had to when Mercedes was dominant.
To be nice when you’ve won a championship in the most glorious way as Lewis did in 2021 at Abu Dhabi only to have it stolen on the last lap by the FIA is something that’s inconceivable.
To move forward after that and still compete at this level, it’s herculean. I take my hat off to Toto and Lewis. Of course, they were never going to match Red Bull after that Waterloo-level defeat at Abu Dhabi. We knew it would take a long time for Mercedes to recover and in my own humble opinion I’d say 4-5 years for it to be completely behind them and that’s overly optimistic. I suspect most people familiar with trauma will agree and will tell you that it’s never really behind you and it will affect your performance forever.
You can easily argue that Abu Dhabi will impact F1 for 5 years benefiting Red Bull unjustly.
It’s debatable if Mercedes will ever reach their prior levels and both Lewis and Toto will operate at the same levels they did before Abu Dhabi but if they manage to do it, it’ll be the greatest comeback of all time in any sport.
And here are some examples. Massa is taking legal action against Formula 1 for 2008. That was 15 years ago and clearly Massa has not recovered.
Watch the documentary on Netflix about Guillermo Villas (an Argentine tennis player) and how he was cheated of the #1 spot in tennis and what that meant to him even 40 years later when someone brought the case with evidence proving that he was the legitimate #1.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
7th September 2023, 1:41
Your whole argument falls apart when you compare to Senna and Schumacher. You realise both of these drivers deliberately took out their championship rivals to secure the title right?
Mayrton
8th September 2023, 7:59
+1
F1 frog (@f1frog)
6th September 2023, 12:32
I said this after Spa. Max Verstappen has now become the first driver ever to win all four classic races in one season. He is also the first since Sebastian Vettel in 2011 to win Monaco and Monza in the same season.
Kribana (@krichelle)
6th September 2023, 12:34
Did he need to win 10 in a row? If he did, the FIA would have probably pushed harder for rule changes against Mercedes. But they should have won all races in 2016. That’s the team you want, not the current Red Bull team. Hamilton and Rosberg pushed the team higher than their limits. Each team principal should be pushing for that type of pairing. Remember that Toto insisted in 2014 to use low engine modes to keep their advantage. They might have done the same to their drivers in some instances, but this is behind closed doors.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th September 2023, 12:48
Ferrari scored a record 23rd pole position in Monza.
Williams’ best Italian GP starting position since 2017.
Max Verstappen broke the so-called Monza curse, which was retiring the season after winning.
1:14:19.838 in 2003 is, of course, still the lowest winning time for full scheduled lap amount, so without losing two laps for two extra formation laps, Max’s overall time would’ve probably been 1:16:something based on his last lap times.
Valtteri Bottas’ first top-ten finish since the Canadian GP.
Yuki Tsunoda’s second Monza DNS, although at least he started the formation lap, unlike two years ago when his car got pulled into the garage already during the grid preparation phase.
Oscar Piastri set his first career fastest lap, even if not for the bonus point.
The second circuit where the 2023 pole lap was slower than the 2022 equivalent in wholly dry condition comparison, with the previous being Jeddah Corniche Circuit, & coincidently, only very marginally within the same tenth figure.
MichaelN
6th September 2023, 14:39
It’s very hard to find comparisons that aren’t messed up by safety cars and such. This is a nice one.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 16:55
While the monza curse stat seems interesting, unfortunately I noticed it seems to be only since 2019: leclerc won 2019 and retired (a crash, as I recall) in 2020, because before that hamilton won in 2018 and finished in the points in 2019.
If this had happened for 10 years or more I’d have been impressed.
CarWars (@maxv)
6th September 2023, 13:36
From 2016 Max was on the scene in a semi competitive car and they lost the opportunity at Mercedes to break the record.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 16:56
Guess that is the hidden reason why red bull pushed so hard to get verstappen in the main team asap (kvyat was demoted fairly quickly): they didn’t want anyone else to beat their consecutive win record with vettel!
Facts&Stats
6th September 2023, 13:50
I do ‘blame’ Bottas though for stopping Hamilton to get 10 in a row between Brazil 2018 and France 2019.
If Toto only knew how important 10 in row would become he should’ve asked Bottas to let Lewis past in Australia and Azerbaijan 2019.
sethje (@seth-space)
6th September 2023, 15:55
Toto only found wikipedia years later ;)
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 16:58
I can just picture him hitting the table when he discovered 10 wins in a row were a possibility he missed!
osnola
6th September 2023, 18:13
No wiki, no…
Mayrton
7th September 2023, 7:16
hahaha
MichaelN
6th September 2023, 14:37
Just another example of how dreadful the Binotto years were, and obviously this year’s lacklustre car is very much his creation still.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 17:00
Yes, the 2020 car was particularly bad, there hadn’t been a slower ferrari in something like 40 years!
OOliver
6th September 2023, 14:40
My take on Hamilton and records.
Hamilton is only interested in wins and championships and those automatically set records.
Mercedes and Hamilton have not chased fastest laps and various other records they could have gone for.
Pole position record is because every driver tries to start in front. Imagine all the fastest race lap records Mercedes happpily threw away just to be safe in their winning races.
Any team that goes for consecutive race wins for one driver will automatically compromise the second.
Finally all of these are trivial stuff in the grand scheme of life.
David BR (@david-br)
6th September 2023, 16:04
@OOliver I think that’s all true, certainly Hamilton has never gone out of his way to chase fastest laps, grand slams etc.
The only bit I disagree with is
Maybe if Perez had been a threat at any point over recent races, it would be plausible. Verstappen and Red Bull haven’t needed to compromise Perez though. He’s done it himself. The only risk has been some race incident or a mechanical failure, which hasn’t happened. Max has been cautious by his standards – a fact that I don’t think has been recognized enough. He could have relaxed and risked a bit more knowing he has no chance of losing the WDC. I think Hamilton, for example, would have. But he’s maximized everything. He seems to get a Schumacher-like enjoyment out of total domination, even though they’re quite different drivers. More than anything, I think that explains how he’s managed this run of ten (and probably more) wins.
OOliver
6th September 2023, 18:08
I quite agree with you. I didn’t imply Perez was being deliberately getting suboptimal treatment. I do however believe that with his recent inconsistency it will make it easier for a team with such an interest to simply focus on such records even if it goes against Perez on or two times.
Also true his (Max) absolute belief in his right foot as he has the confidence and control to go against his team recommendations regarding race pace.
RH
6th September 2023, 14:58
The reality is Hamilton has good peaks but equally bad lows. He just has never had the consistency of Verstappen.
Having said that, a 10 in a row is more a reflection of also the team performing at a very high level. For context if RB had not underfueled Verstappen’s car at Singapore he’d have had 9 in a row already. He probably has a lights to flag win at Singapore and not the comedy show that he, Lewis, Yuki, all put up that day.
Red Bull have arguably the best strategy and the best pit stops. They also have a driver who’s very strong every weekend. Add to that a car that is strong everywhere and when it’s weak their driver can ensure they win like Monaco.
To me, Verstappen will always be a stronger driver over a season. Hamilton a terrific driver on his day but he will also disappear a few races which will basically not allow him to compete closely with Verstappen without some dosage of luck, like 2021.
My only issue with Hamilton now is he is already statistically at least the greatest – so its okay to praise others without dropping a dig every now and then. I can understand his comments pre TH era driving for a McLaren who were inept though. But today after so much success the least I expect him to do is to stay gracious.
The same goes for Toto. It’s really funny to be this insecure after 8 years of domination. They’d probably dominate from 2026 anyways with an engine change and only God knows how bad the RB engines will be.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 17:06
Definitely, hamilton made plenty of mistakes in 2021, which with equal luck would’ve seen him out of contention, crashing in imola, going wide in baku for example, and baku he paid for and losing the title can indeed be attributed to that alone.
On paper the silverstone one was also a mistake, but he ended up gaining points from it becuse of the “not taking consequences of crashes into account” when it comes to penalties, which I don’t agree with.
RH
6th September 2023, 19:10
Yeah, thanks for the summary. There were also others like Monaco or Turkey both of which were pretty subpar for a wdc contender.
The Dolphins
6th September 2023, 20:09
I don’t think it was a mistake any way you look at it. Hamilton knew how we was placing his car, he was in a position where he had little to lose if someone drove into him. Max is arguably the one who made the mistake that day and learned from it from races that followed.
Fritz
7th September 2023, 18:30
What a load of Redbull! Slow starts compared to whom? Get this perspective he got 7 WDCS with massive headwinds.
That means stronger teammates aloud to compete and actually competing against him.
Not Michael Masi prelubed handmedowns!
Not one of Verstappens Wdcs if you want to call them that, are worth the name!
Verstappen being stronger than Hamilton?
Do you not see who got robbed and is still here?
Do you not se who Verstappen is not fighting with? Who is he fighting hard with in his dominant Redbull? @RH in case you are joking you are bombing. Calling the Max nicknamed Craschtappen more consistent than Ham, maybe over the medium lifetime of spermcell.
Hamilton is the GOAT. Even Schumacher had a wingman to get his seven(none stolen).
Verstappen wasn’t that what you saw in 21? 2 drivers in equal cars competing?
Dispite all the Redbull that went against Ham/Merc brakechecks, Spa, costcap and whatnot and still the great dutch hype needed Masi the provider to deliver a trophy full of sloppy seconds 2 Max!
Anuj Chopra
8th September 2023, 6:58
If you are so much hurt by 2021 Abu Dhabi, blame Toto more. They should have changed his tyres as well.
And one more thing, same 2021 Abu Dhabi; Perez defended against Ham for 3 laps with much older tyres and weaker engine. If HAM had defended even 10% of what Sergio did, he would have lifted the trophy.
Ed
6th September 2023, 15:06
When Hamilton had dominant seasons the moment he clinch the tilte he didn’t win another race that season, hence why hs teammates could win the last 4 reaces of that season because he didn’t have the drive, passion, will to go on an keep winning. I think what irks him more is that Verstappen is in the same vain as Schumacher and Vettel, they want to win it all.
David BR (@david-br)
6th September 2023, 16:09
Exactly. I’m not sure it bothers Hamilton much that Verstappen has this record; it probably annoys him more that he isn’t competing on level terms himself (and we know that, were that the case, this Verstappen run would have been impossible). And also it’s difficult to answer that question of having a different mentality, relaxing after the WDC is over versus the drive to win every single available point and ensure your rivals don’t start thinking they have a chance.
notagrumpyfan
6th September 2023, 16:12
He was also typically slow off the mark at the beginning of the season. This cost him the championships in 2016 and 2021, and the Racefans rating against Russell in 2022.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 17:08
Good point about both 2016 and 2021 costing titles, he definitely threw away less points in the 2nd half.
OOliver
6th September 2023, 18:11
Hamilton tends to fall back on bad habits early on in previous seasons then going on to seeing the light and stepping up his focus.
Frank
6th September 2023, 16:33
There are imho many reasons why Hamilton never got to 10 in the most dominant Mercedes years.
1) Rosberg at his peak was a very good driver. Not an all-time great, but close enough to take wins away (and even a championship). Rosberg could capitalise on races where his – usually superior – team mate ran into misfortune in quali or race.
2) A tendency to loose focus on behalf of Hamilton himself
3) I still heavily suspect Hamilton of making Bottas look good to increase his chances of an extended contract, hence guaranteeing himself a beatable teammate. Maybe the stats and facts team could check the Ham vs. Bottas scores before and after contract extension.
I do not consider Bottas significantly better than Perez. However, he was a more consistent qualifier and also seemed to cope better with being paired with a faster driver. Arguably, he also raced for Merceder at his peak whereas Perez is at an age where drivers start to retire. On the whole, this may have put Bottas in a better position to snatch away victories from the team leader.
FW11B (@fw11b)
6th September 2023, 16:44
I did not read Hamilton’s initial comment so I can speak to it’s tone, but I think both things can be true: Verstappens’ record is incredible and other drivers were not able to achieve it before due to exigent circumstances. Seasons were shorter, the competition was stiffer etc. Hamilton did face stronger teammates and rivals (Rosberg, Bottas, Vettel, even Max), as did Senna and Prost in 1988, Schumacher in 2002-04. On the flip side, while Verstappen has the best car, it’s probably not as strong as the Mercedes os 14-19 (if they were, maybe Checo would be a tougher opponent). Every record depends on circumstances and just because one thing can be true it doesn’t invalidate the others achievement.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 17:16
Schumacher in particular had a run where he almost won 13 consecutive races in 2004, if I recall, he only missed monaco: he was hit by a lapped montoya, which destroyed his suspension in SC regime, however from what I recall and read after (as I wanted to know if there was the possibility to win ofc) it seems he hadn’t stopped before SC, and had done that in a bid to try and get some fastest laps after and jump trulli in the pits, and at around 25 laps left to the end, not having the fuel to get to the end, it doesn’t seem likely he’d have won that, however it was fairly close to 13 in a row that time; I don’t think barrichello was much stronger a team mate than perez or bottas.
MichaelN
6th September 2023, 19:08
That seems unduly harsh on Barrichello. I haven’t seen Pérez win a race like Silverstone 2003, or Germany 2000.
As for the record, winning this or that many races not that big a deal to everyone. If one looks at some of Barrichello’s wins in 2002 Schumacher was pretty much always behind by less than a second. In other words: those were gifts, and Schumacher could have won more races if he really wanted to.
Gimi
6th September 2023, 23:06
This is something I always saw with Bottas as well, Bottas ahead of Lewis was pretty much Hamilton right in his gearbox, Hamilton ahead instead is a comfortable win most of the time.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
6th September 2023, 17:08
If i remember… Nico Rosberg won 9 races in a row against most successful driver of all time.
So yeah Lewis had stronger teammates.
Lewis was racing many strong teammates and mostly seemed a bit better than them, but nothing like what Verstappen is doing right now.
Dominance of this magnitude was last seen by Alonso, Schumacher and Senna.
Verstappen is doing much the same, where he drives around a handling issue of a well performing car, that the other driver could not do.
Something similar happened to Alonso manytimes where his dog of a Ferrari was quite fast but only in his hands.
Lewis seems to favour a brilliant car and then he can just extract more than anyond else with it, when conditions are right 80% of the time.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
6th September 2023, 17:19
No, that’s actually 7 wins that I see from the end of 2015 to the first races of 2016, however at a glance on wiki, it’s still more than hamilton achieved, which is surprising: rosberg had the same car as hamilton after all.
osnola
6th September 2023, 18:17
It shows every driver could win in that car. Not sure if that’s in favour of Lewis or Nico.
SteveP
6th September 2023, 19:06
You mention Alonso, but not as a teammate that Hamilton beat – in his rookie year.
Without bad (malign?) input from his team, I suspect Hamilton would have taken the WDC in his rookie year.
Malign? you may ask. Anyone able to come up with a good explanation of why, in the China GP he was told to stay out on tires that were virtual worn through to the canvas and thus had too little grip to make the tight pit stop entrance ?
melanos
7th September 2023, 0:22
Oh yeah the McL team wanted their golden boy to lose and sabotaged him. Well there was a pariah in McL after Hungary 2007, certainly but his name was Fernando.
The Shanghai gravel trap and the gross mistakes early in the Interlagos race only show sheer incompetence of the driver. Before Shanghai a WDC for Kimi seemed like a pipe dream. Well, it happened. Poetic justice and all that.
SteveP
7th September 2023, 7:40
You’ve clearly never come across the stuff that was rumoured, and in recent times confirmed by Marc Priestley, that people within the Alonso entourage were handing envelopes of cash to team members who could sort-of-accidentally not do something Lewis needed to do well in a race or two.
I can’t think why Fernando would be viewed badly by Ron, or maybe we all can think why.
Rookie mistakes would you say?
Please note that Lewis was the rookie, expected to learn from the master (Alonso) and be a good driver in a year or two.
No one, especially Alonso, expected Lewis to be competitive right from the start:
Hamilton: 3, 2+F, 2, 2, 2, 1 from P, 1 from P
Alonso: 2, 1, 5, 3, 1 from P +F, 7 +F, 2
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
6th September 2023, 22:42
Fastest winning race time for a non-red-flagged race.
All drivers with exactly 4 pole positions to their name are either Italian or drove for Ferrari.
Verstappen is yet to be fastest in Q3 in Monza.
First time since Singapore 2016 that the Enstone-based team lost both cars in Q1.
Lawson’s 11th place is the highest that any of Tsunoda’s team-mates have managed this year.
Second time in 3 years that Tsunoda has had a DNS at Monza.
First race with 5 different lap leaders since USA 2022.
Sainz, who had not led a racing lap in 2023 prior to this race, has led the most laps of any non-Red Bull driver in 2023.
Red Bull are now the only team not have had a mechanical DNF or DNS this season.
Thanks to statsf1 and the official F1 site for some of these.
SteveP
7th September 2023, 7:47
If he keeps that up, then Ricciardo may have a longer recovery period offered.
Then the end of the season becomes interesting. Do AT then flip a coin to decide which of Tsunoda and Ricciardo to keep?
alex capps
7th September 2023, 0:49
One could argue that based on bottas performance in the mercedes vs his performance in the Alpha romeo and williams that perez may be better. Nico wasnt that great till he had a car that gave him a huge advantage. Hamiltons career has been one of risk and luck. No rookie has ever been handed the keys to a championship contender, in modern history, like he was. Granted he had probably the worst teammate in history. he made a huge risk jumping to mercedes that paid off but the closest he has ever been to being in a back marker was last season. hes had an impressive career but to say the only reason he never had 10 in a row was tougher teammates is a joke. If that was the case youd expect Mercedes to be at the top of the chart for consecutive wins by a constructor but they are tied for 3rd 3 times (1 engine failure, 1 team mates colliding, and the last time bottas crashed out and ham shunted it behind a safety car in the rain).
Red bull and by extension Max have accomplished this by being part of the most well executed team in the history of the sport. Hamilton is arguably the only driver on the grid with the talent max has but Horner is the better leader and the team he operates executes pit stops like a machine and 9/10 get the strategy call correct. on those times where one part of the machine is lacking the other parts somehow find a way to work it out. That is the difference, not the drivers, not the engine, not the car, its all of it and the buck stops with the team principal
Horner >>> TOTO
SteveP
7th September 2023, 7:54
I can’t say that I’ve seen/heard video/audio from the interview concerned to get the tone, but do you not see a quick reply like that as likely being a remark in jest?
You did say:
but I’m feeling you don’t mean that Lewis said it as a joke, but feel that it was a deliberate put down of Max.
Nic Wilson
7th September 2023, 2:45
When Max took 9 in a row, he equaled Vettel, NOT Hamilton, which proves your statement false.
Mayrton
7th September 2023, 7:03
I think by now we don’t even have to comment anymore. They make it pretty obvious what they are made of.
grat
7th September 2023, 9:59
The reality is that Hamilton, in spite of the myth that the Mercedes team was untouchable from 2014 to 2021, faced competition not just from his teammate, but from other teams. At no point during that era was Mercedes as untouchable as Red Bull is right now.
There have only been two 10 win runs for the Mercedes team that I know of– 2016, and 2018-2019. Rosberg won multiple races in that run during 2016, and Bottas won twice in the 2018-2019 run, so what Hamilton said is valid, but missing the point– No one, including his teammate, is capable of mounting a serious challenge to Max Verstappen in the RB19.
Gimi
7th September 2023, 13:28
Not including 2021 because they obviously lost 1 championship, 2014 to 2020, they won 97 of 138 races, 70% win rate, 114 poles as well a 82% pole rate, they weren’t untouchable they lost 30% of races and 18% of poles after all, but they were easily the best team every year and from 2014-2016 you could say the were indeed untouchable.
Also 2017-2020 lowers Mercedes win rate and pole rate quite a bit yet Hamilton was champion with relative ease most of the time only really in 2018 and 2017 was he challenged, Hamilton win per season is also pretty much a consistent 9-11 always from 2014 to 2020, so it’s not that Hamilton did so much better in 2014-2016 that Mercedes managed a 86% win rate and 95% pole rate on him alone, it was his teammate who was so much better than Bottas and so much more focused on challenging Hamilton that he was there to pick up the wins whenever Hamilton didn’t, to give some credit to Bottas he was as fast as Hamilton on qualy, so that’s why Mercedes pole % dropped a bit but is still in the eighties.
If Mercedes hired Max while young so they take him instead of Bottas in 2017 to take over Nico’s seat or Nico stayed just a motivated as in 2016, I think 2017-2020 would look a lot more like 2014-2016 and there would be no question that the Mercedes was untouchable for all these years.
Bob
7th September 2023, 11:06
I don’t get it. Max breaks Vettel’s and Ascari’s record and somehow people are only talking about Lewis. What does he has to do with this anyway. Why aren’t the fanboys of Vettel or Schumacher going nuts over Max his achivements?
It’s also funny that most fans of Lewis use stats to prove that he is “the GOAT”, but now that Max his stats are getting more and more impressive, the stats are suddenly not that relevant…
Also, bad title for this article.
Fritz
7th September 2023, 17:54
Yuuup Bob!
Does 2+2=4?
The level of BULLshit flying in here from Hamilton detractors is on.
Whats the point of dicussing the merit of Maxes winning streak? Its in the god —n contract! Verstappen uber alles! Per definition no competition allowed! Thats how Maxes winning streak is worth!
If Redbull is slowest Max is guaranted the second last position. Take that 2 the bank.
Max Verstappen is A baloon filled with methangas from red bovine. He’s abrassive personality is costantly ovelooked and glossed over. Wheres Hamilton gets handed the whole handed book for stating known facts about the quality of his teammates.
Its very important for most detractors to make shure he knows where to sit the in the bus,,, and its not in P1! Preferebly not on the grid.
And speaking of meritocrisy. The way i see 2021 its Verstappen + The mexican minister of the defence + Torro rosso twins + the esteemed Michael Masi on the red corner VS Sir Lewis Hamilton and Bottas or Brutus!
2021 was so stacked against Ham that i dont understand how he found the strenght to continue. Its telling that when people rate Hamiltons performance they never say “This guy got robbed by the powers to be in front of the whole world. Here he is in a dog of a car making the best situation. He is a monster human i salut him”
Instead they say he should quit because his old a hasbeen but Alonso is fine! Theres a subtle nuance that i am missing?
Does anyone know.
But i do know is this! Racefan forum contributors and deploreables are mostly found whereever Sir Lewis Hamiltons articles are!
Bob
7th September 2023, 21:15
Sorry man, my English is not good enough to know if you are being sarcastic or not.
Pedro (@)
13th September 2023, 15:47
Dog of a Car? I would say Mercedes and Red Bull were pretty even through the season, but Max drove a bit better, and Michael Masi’s decisions kept skewing the championship towards one driver, or the other
Dale
9th September 2023, 13:27
Given equal equipment, Perez would beat Bottas 95 times out of 100.
Maybe what LewSir meant to say is that the difference between himself and Bottas was closer than it is between Verstappen and Perez, which would be 100% correct.
However, has LewSir had Perez as a teammate, e probably wouldn’t have got 5 wins in a row.