MONZA, Italy — Max Verstappen’s record-breaking dominance has forced Red Bull to buy a new trophy cabinet for its F1 headquarters in the UK.
Verstappen claimed an unprecedented 10th straight win at the Italian Grand Prix, moving clear of the 2013 tally of nine set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013.
It was his 12th win of the year, his 27th since the start of 2022 and 37th since the start of 2021, when he won his maiden F1 title.
He is on pace to wrap up his third straight championship at October’s Qatar Grand Prix with five races to spare.
When it was put to him on Sunday evening that Red Bull would need a new trophy cabinet soon, team boss Christian Horner said: “Yeah, but it’s a nice problem to have!
“I’m superstitious and I don’t like empty cabinets. We’ve already ordered another cabinet and we’ve already filled it. So we’ll deal with that at the end of the season.”
The build-up to the race featured seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who Verstappen beat to the title in 2021, questioning the strength of the Dutchman’s teammates since being in F1, implying his current spell of dominance is no more impressive than those which came before.
Horner said it should be impossible for anyone to deny the magnitude of what Verstappen is achieving.
“Max, what he’s doing, he’s breaking records, he’s driving at an unbelievable level. I don’t think there’s anybody in the world right now that could beat Max Verstappen in this car, that’s for sure.
“I think you have to recognize and applaud what Max is doing at the moment. It’s very special at the moment to have achieved what he achieved. We shouldn’t detract from that in any way. In sport, very rarely things like this happen.
“I think it’s a golden moment for him and a golden moment for the team.”
Verstappen’s win means Red Bull is still undefeated this year, as teammate Sergio Perez won in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.
No team in history has won every race of a Formula One season.
Source: www.espn.com