More history beckons for Max Verstappen at the Brazilian Grand Prix, even if he has a weekend to forget.
The Red Bull driver currently seems to have walls closing in around him, with his car getting slower and his championship lead evaporating.
On top of that, moves that title rival Lando Norris called ‘dangerous’ last time out in Mexico saw two ten second penalties and him roundly condemned by the Formula 1 world.
Things could well get worse with Brazil being a sprint weekend, meaning 33 points are up for grabs.
But even if the worst happens and Verstappen fails to score in both races with Norris winning both, the Dutchman will still make some astonishing history.
With a 47-point championship lead, Verstappen will end Sunday top of the standings no matter what happens, and that will see him set an incredible new record.
On November 3 it will be 896 days that he’s led the standings, matching Michael Schumacher’s all-time record for days at the top.
And by Monday, he’ll eclipse it, writing his name into the history books with perhaps his most impressive record yet.
Verstappen has humbly played down many of his records, with a lot of statistics like wins and pole positions far more achievable than in the past given there are many more races in modern F1.
However, leading the championship for a record-breaking amount of time shows just how dominant this current period has been for the 27-year-old.
Verstappen won his first title in 2021, and followed up with his second and third. The third in 2023 saw an astonishing 19 wins out of 22, but his lead began before that.
He’s in fact led the championship since the Spanish Grand Prix in May 2022, and he still looks on course to keep that honour into 2025, even with Norris and the chasing pack catching up.
However, his streak could come to an end at the season-opener in Australia, much like it did for the previous record holder – Schumacher.
The German icon went top of the standings at the US Grand Prix in 2000 and would stay there for the following two seasons, picking up his third, fourth and fifth titles to match Juan Manuel Fangio as the most successful driver of all time.
However, at the start of the 2003 season he finished fourth in Australia and was knocked off top spot by David Coulthard.
He would soon overtake him, though, and take his title count to seven.
Verstappen’s achievements are even more impressive when you consider how no one else has even come close to beating his record until now.
The third-longest run at the top was also by Schumacher – 630 days between 2003 and 2005 – while fourth is Ayrton Senna with 581 days from 1990 to 1991.
Alberto Ascari and Fernando Alonso are next up on the list, and way down in sixth is Lewis Hamilton, who led for 546 days from 2014 to 2015.
