Superstar of Formula 1 Lewis Hamilton is willing to wager that Max Verstappen, the 2023 world champion, will win eighteen to nineteen races this season.
Verstappen broke his own record of 15 victories set in 2022 with his 16th victory of the season at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Verstappen is on the verge of becoming the first driver in Formula One history to surpass the 500-point mark in a single season as the season draws to a close.
Presently, the Dutchman has 491 points, with 86 more to be earned in the remaining races.
Mercedes and its star driver, Hamilton, have not let up despite Verstappen’s incredible success. They finished second at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, demonstrating their competitive nature.
The Britishman is optimistic Verstappen will keep hitting new records, though.
Hamilton told the media, “Hopefully, these next couple of races will be close.”
“But I’d probably put money on it that [Max] will get to 18, 19 [wins] with that car.”
The seven-time world champion’s podium place in Mexico City closed the gap to his drivers’ championship rival, Sergio Perez, to a mere 20 points.
“It definitely gives us a lot of confidence,” said Hamilton.
“I mean, last year, at the same time, we were doing the same thing, but last year, I think we were three-tenths behind Max in qualifying or something like that and I came second, but he walked off with the win.
“So we’re really just mirroring what we did last year, so we have to make some real big changes for next year.”
Eyes on 2024
As Verstappen crossed the finish line, the 38-year-old also managed to steal the fastest lap from him, offering more proof that the gap to the 2023 constructors’ champions is closing.
“They were definitely 1.5 seconds faster per lap than us in Bahrain earlier this year,” Hamilton recollected.
Thus, it is crucial to make sure that Bahrain [for the 2024 season opener] does not experience this.
Red Bull will be looking to their drivers to put together a minimum of 35 points collectively in order to surpass Mercedes’ record for the most points won in a single season (765 in 2016), as Formula One travels to South America on Sunday.
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