With the Formula 1 season's biggest prizes effectively wrapped up and the RB19 still the clear fastest car in the series, Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen are now playing for all-time records. Today's victory in Hungary, Verstappen's seventh straight and the 12th in a row for Red Bull dating back to last season, gave the team sole possession of a pretty big one: Red Bull Racing now own sole possession of the record for most consecutive wins for a manufacturer, one held by McLaren's legendary MP4/4 since 1988.
Taking a record from McLaren's 1988 season is no small feat. The MP4/4 won both the first 11 races of that season and 15 of 16 total events. Ten of those 16 results were 1-2 finishes. Red Bull, by contrast, only have four 1-2 finishes in the 11 races the RB19 has run. Such things are easier to accomplish when your drivers are Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
Verstappen's win today was indicative of the RB19's recent performance. Despite being beaten in qualifying, the reigning champion was able to get the lead before turn 1 and hold back a pair of McLarens for the remainder of the event. Verstappen's third championship is already little more than a formality, and a 110-point lead on second-place Sergio Perez means that he should formally secure the title as early as Suzuka. In the constructor's standings, Red Bull has nearly double the points of second-place Mercedes. It is as dominant as any season F1 has ever seen.
Two poles have already been won by drivers on other teams, so the record for highest percentage of poles in a season will not be claimed by Red Bull in 2023. With a 22-race season and Red Bull undefeated through 11 races, every other conceivable team record is still in play for both the team and driver Max Verstappen. The biggest still on the board are the individual win streak of nine races and the season win rate of 93%. Verstappen is two wins away from tying Sebastian Vettel's individual win record in an earlier era of Red Bull Racing, while the team would need to at least ten of the 11 remaining races to secure the record for season win rate, the last major record held by the MP4/4 and its all-world driver pairing.
That hunt for history continues at Spa next weekend. Given how effortless Verstappen's wins looked in the past two races after losing the lead early in one and losing pole in another, it may be the only interesting chase left in Formula 1's 2023 season.
