World champion Max Verstappen says his record-breaking 2023 campaign will be difficult to emulate in the future.
The Red Bull driver took his 19th grand prix win of the year at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, crossing the line with a winning margin of almost 18 seconds.Verstappen set multiple records over 2023, taking the most victories in a single season, the most podiums in a season, the most laps led with over 1,000, the most points ever scored in a championship and the biggest championship-winning margin ever. After winning the final race, Verstappen described his season as “incredible”.
“It was a bit emotional on the in-lap,” he said. “It was the last time I was sitting in the car, which has of course given me a lot.
“Of course very proud to win also here, the last race. But I have to say a big thank you to everyone at Red Bull. It’s just been an incredible year. It will be hard to do something similar again, but we definitely enjoyed this year.”
Verstappen had already set many all-time records in 2022 when he won his second championship title. Despite expressing his view that it would be difficult to emulate his 2022 season, Verstappen ultimately surpassed his achievements over the course of this year. However, Verstappen insists he expects more competition from his rivals in 2024.
“It will be very hard to have another season like this – we know that,” Verstappen admitted. “Of course you always want to do better, but sometimes doing better is not only race wins and potentially winning the championship. But we’ll see.
“We are working hard for next year to have again a very competitive car. For sure all the other teams out there, they want to try and beat us next year and are ready for the battle. But in the meantime we are going to enjoy a little bit this year as well.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- Mercedes’ team photo shows we still have a long way to go on diversity – Hamilton
- Why luck was a factor in Perez’s penalty for “joke” comment
- Bottas and Zhou see encouraging signs from overhauled 2024 car
- Only Verstappen got the best from his car every weekend, rival team bosses admit
- How Sainz suffered the worst season finale for a driver since Schumacher in 1997
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
26th November 2023, 16:50
I think my favourite stat is:
“Verstappen’s 1,003 laps led this season exactly equals the total led by McLaren in their 1988 season with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.”
Four Four Seven (@fourfourseven)
27th November 2023, 0:37
Total yawn fest