by As Red Bull continues to clean up at every race of the Formula 1 season, PlanetF1.com has looked at some of the records and milestones the team and its staff could soon break.
Just like Mercedes did in the 2010s, Red Bull finds everything they touch turning to gold lately. Victorious in every race of the 2023 season so far and winner of the last two Drivers’ Championships, Red Bull is without a doubt the dominant force in F1.
With mastermind Adrian Newey behind him and the ultimate talent of Max Verstappen, there is every suggestion that this run can continue and bring Red Bull even more titles to the record books.
With that in mind, here are five records or milestones that the team or its collaborators could soon break:
Max Verstappen and his ridiculous winning percentage
Before the 2021 campaign, Verstappen often had to settle for the occasional win in F1, having achieved 10 before the 2021 season got under way. That makes it all the more amazing that now, two and a half years later, he has crossed the line first 40 times.
To put that in context, a total of 10 wins would put him tied for 31st on the all-time list alongside James Hunt, Ronnie Peterson, Jody Scheckter, Gerhard Berger and Valtteri Bottas. Now, however, Verstappen has the sixth most race wins and is just one away from Ayrton Senna.
In percentage terms, Verstappen has won 58% of all races since the start of the 2021 season and if you were to count only from 2022, that number rises to 68%. As for his overall winning percentage, that is 24%, placing him 10th on the all-time list of drivers who have competed in five or more races.
In 2022 he won a record 15 races and after seven rounds in 2023 he is already up to five, giving him 15 more races to break his own record.
Only five of the last 51 podiums have not had a Red Bull driver
Another example of Red Bull’s continued dominance in recent years is the number of podiums achieved. Take any race from the start of the 2021 season and chances are Verstappen or Sergio Perez will be on one of the top three stages.
Before 2021, Red Bull had achieved 183 podiums as a team, but after the conclusion of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix that number is now 245 and the Milton Keynes team has missed out on podiums in just 10% of all races since the start of 2021.
Their score puts them fifth among all-time leaders, behind only Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Williams, but they could add another 30 before the season is over.
In terms of consecutive podium finishes, Red Bull have a long way to go with their current tally of eight, well below Ferrari’s 53 between 1999 and 2002.
Red Bull is four wins away from breaking an all-time record
This is a statistic that seems to be becoming certain at the moment given the team’s recent form.
The all-time record for most consecutive wins as a constructor currently belongs to McLaren, who achieved the feat in 1988 when Aryton Senna and Alain Prost won all but one of the 16 Grands Prix that year. The only race they failed to win was the Italian Grand Prix which, much to the delight of the home fans, was won by Ferrari’s Gerhard Berger and ended McLaren’s streak at 11.
Red Bull currently have eight consecutive wins and have tasted success in every race since the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and in theory they could match the record set at this year’s British Grand Prix and then better it at the Hungarian Grand Prix .
Incredibly given their dominance in the 2010s, Mercedes never managed to match McLaren’s record, instead taking 10 consecutive wins on three separate occasions. Ferrari has also achieved 10 in the past, having done so in 2002.
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The RB19 could be Adrian Newey’s best car to date
Of course it’s not just the drivers who have contributed to the team’s success and one man who has played a bigger role than most is Adrian Newey. The F1 design guru has been with the team since 2006 and has already delivered six title-winning cars to Red Bull, more than he has with any other team in his illustrious career.
In all, Newey has been instrumental in designing 13 championship-winning cars dating back to his initial success with Williams and the FW14B. Newey holds the record for the most titles won as a designer and could extend that number to 14 if the RB19 followed in its predecessor’s footsteps.
The RB19 could also become the most dominant car of Newey’s career with that mantle currently held by the RB18, which won 18 of a possible 22 races. The most successful car in history is the McLaren-Honda MP 4/4 which won all but one race in the 1988 season.
Christian Horner will soon join an exclusive list
Besides the drivers and Newey, there is one face that represents Red Bull more than most and that is Christian Horner. The 49-year-old Englishman joined the team when it was founded and has remained there ever since, making him the longest-serving team principal currently on the grid, ahead of Franz Tost and Toto Wolff.
But not only is Horner known for his longevity, but also for his immense success with all five Constructors’ Championships and all six Drivers’ Championships under his belt. Horner is poised to join an elite club of team leaders who have racked up more than 100 wins during their tenure, with currently only Wolff, Frank Williams and Ron Dennis breaking that barrier.
Horner, with his 99 wins, surpassed Jean Todt after winning the Monaco Grand Prix and should Red Bull win in Canada, he would become the fourth team principal in history with 100 wins or more.
However, he is still some way from overtaking those before him with Wolff currently at 112 while the late Frank Williams oversaw 114 wins. Leader Ron Dennis was in charge of 133 McLaren wins.
