The F1 record Max Verstappen can break, even without winning

Max Verstappen is poised to challenge for his first career Formula 1 world championship over the next two weekends, but he could break a record even without winning it.

With the final off weekend of the 2021 Formula 1 season in the books, the focus is now officially on the world championship battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton over the next two weekends, the first of which is already underway.

Following the 22-race season’s first 20 races, Verstappen holds a narrow eight-point advantage over Hamilton in the driver standings. Hamilton is coming off of back-to-back victories heading into this Sunday’s inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Hamilton (-165) is currently listed as the favorite to beat Verstappen (+120) and win the title, despite this eight-point deficit.

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Verstappen, who entered the 2021 season having never finished higher than third place in the driver standings in six seasons of F1 competition, is aiming to derail Hamilton’s bid for what would be a record-breaking eighth world championship and a record-tying fifth in a row.

But there is one record that Verstappen himself could break over the course of the season’s final two races, and he doesn’t necessarily need to win the world championship to do so.

Through 20 races, Verstappen has recorded a series-high 16 podium finishes. The all-time record for podium finishes in a season is 17, a mark that has been recorded six times in F1 history.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher went a perfect 17 for 17 in the 2002 season en route to his fifth overall and third consecutive title, so even if Verstappen does manage to hit 18, you could make the case that nobody will ever top Schumacher’s effort.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel went 17 for 19 in the 2011 season en route to his second overall (and consecutive) title. Hamilton did the same in the 2015 season en route to his third overall and second consecutive title.

Hamilton went 17 for 21 in the 2016 season, the only season in the last seven years during which he was not crowned champion, and then again in the 2018 and 2019 seasons en route to his fifth and sixth overall (second and third consecutive) titles.

While Verstappen would surely prefer to win the world championship by breaking this record in the process, there are ways by which he could break the record and fall shy of the title, provided he finishes on the podium both times without a victory.

In fact, if Hamilton, who can actually tie this record yet again considering he sits at 15 podium finishes this year, wins both of the season’s final two races, he is guaranteed to win the title.

But that doesn’t mean Verstappen won’t find the podium twice.

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