Max Verstappen has won 10 races in a row, and only eight races remain on the 2023 Formula 1 schedule. Which races are most likely to trip him up?
Two-time reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has been on a tear throughout the 2023 season, and he appears to be well on his way to a third consecutive title. He has recorded 14 top two finishes in 14 races, and only two have been of the runner-up variety. He recently broke the all-time record for consecutive victories with his 10th.
Verstappen, who is just three wins shy of the single season wins record he set last year (15), looks poised to break his own record at some point in the near future.
Many believe that he has a good chance to extend his win streak to 18 by the end of the year and finish the season with 20 races in 22 starts, and although both marks would shatter previous records, it truly does look entirely possible.
But where is the 25-year-old Dutchman most likely to falter? Here are three possibilities, even though he will likely enter each race weekend as the overwhelming betting favorite.
Best chances to stop Max Verstappen: No. 1 – Singapore Grand Prix
Marina Bay Street Circuit has statistically been Max Verstappen’s worst track. He has just two front row starts, none of which from the pole position, in six attempts, and he has only managed two podium finishes, neither of which on the top step.
Even in a dominant 2022 season, he only could manage a seventh place finish after starting in eighth. He finished two laps behind teammate and race winner Sergio Perez. With the Singapore Grand Prix next up on the calendar, is 10 races as far as Verstappen’s win streak goes?
The only other track on the schedule where he has raced before and not won is Losail International Circuit, which only hosted one race in 2021. He still finished in second place to the vastly superior Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
The Singapore Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 17 at 8:00 a.m. ET.
Best chances to stop Max Verstappen: No. 2 – Sao Paulo Grand Prix
For whatever reason, Red Bull showed up to last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix looking like the third or even the fourth fastest team on the grid throughout the entire race weekend, even amid a season during which they won 17 of 22 races and the constructor championship.
Amid a record-breaking 15-win season, Verstappen could only manage a sixth place finish in the main event at Interlagos after a disappointing fourth place finish in the sprint race.
While it would seem safe to assume that the Milton Keynes-based team will show up a bit more competitive this year, given the fact that they are 14 for 14 to start the season and have now won a record 15 straight races going back to last year, last year’s struggles were particularly baffling because of how the track had treated them in the past.
Even in the era of Mercedes dominance, Verstappen collected a victory at the track in 2019, and he would have won by a 2023-era margin in 2018 had he not been taken out by Esteban Ocon.
Last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix produced what remains the only Mercedes 1-2 finish since the end of the 2020 season, with George Russell collecting his first career win and Lewis Hamilton finishing in second place.
Of the 32 wins that have gone to either Red Bull or Mercedes since the start of the 2022 season, this is the only one that belongs to the latter. Meanwhile, Hamilton has seen Verstappen stand on the top step of the podium on 28 occasions since most recently doing so himself.
The Sao Paulo Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 5 at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Best chances to stop Max Verstappen: No. 3 – Las Vegas Grand Prix
Max Verstappen’s only two non-wins of the 2023 season so far have come in street course races in Jeddah and Baku.
While he still finished in second place in those races and has proven to be a significantly better in street events than teammate Sergio Perez, despite Perez’s “king of the streets” moniker, the level of uncertainty associated with the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix cannot be understated.
Few know what to expect from this event, and that uncertainty is almost always multiplied whenever a new race is held on city streets. Just look at how the inaugural Jeddah race unfolded in 2021.
That said, it would surprise absolutely nobody if Verstappen ends up winning the race by 20 seconds anyway. Many thought the Miami Grand Prix would be chaotic when it was added to the schedule in 2022, and he won that race from the second row.
In 2023, it was even less chaotic, with all 20 drivers finishing the race, and he won it despite a ninth place starting position.
Will it truly come down to trying to hit the jackpot to stop Verstappen in the third United States race of the season, or will someone else have a fighting chance for a late season victory?
The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 19 at 1:00 a.m. ET. All upcoming Formula 1 action can be watched live with a subscription to FuboTV. Take advantage of FuboTV’s free trial offer today!