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Mexico (AFP) – Dutchman Max Verstappen, crowned world champion for the second year in a row, seeks to set the record for the number of victories in one season, by defeating his Red Bull teammate and landowner Sergio Perez in the Mexican Grand Prix, the twentieth stage of the Formula One World Championship.
Verstappen, 25, has won 13 wins so far this season, the last of which was in the United States Grand Prix last Sunday, hours after the death of the founder of Red Bull Energy Drinks, Dietrich Mateschitz, who died last Saturday at the age of 78 after a struggle with illness.
The Dutchman, who won the world title in the eighteenth round in Japan, equaled the record set by German Michael Schumacher (13 out of 18 races with Ferrari in 2004) and Sebastian Vettel (13 out of 19 with Red Bull in particular in 2013).
However, Schumi is, at the moment, still in the lead with a higher percentage of wins in a single season, with 18 races held in 2004 compared to 19 in 2013 and 22 this year. So it will be necessary to do the calculations at the end of the season to see who “really” owns the record.
“We will continue to attack.”
Verstappen is well aware that another victory, especially at the expense of teammate Peres in his stronghold, will set a new record, given that he is the only driver to win three times in Mexico (2017, 2018 and 2021) and the fastest time on the track (in 2019 qualifying).
The Dutchman, who said he “loves Mexican food, especially tacos”, said he hoped to win again on Sunday.
“We’ve got the constructors’ and drivers’ championships, but we’re still here to win, and we’ll keep attacking,” he warned.
The driver, who, thanks to his victories, managed to convert his title from “Mad Max” to “Super Max”, praised his teammate Perez: “It is always good to see all the Red Bull fans in the stands, very excited, always with great enthusiasm for Chico.”
The country’s most popular Mexican, winner of two races this season on the streets of Monaco and Singapore, is chasing a third win of the season, and a long-awaited first on home soil.
“My goal is to win the award that is held in my country and I know I have the car and the team to do that,” he said.
runner-up fight
The Mexican, who played a major role in Verstappen’s victories this season, added that he hopes to be the winner in front of his fans, who will be present in the stands, but he admits that it will not be easy.
He added that he knew Verstappen would enter the race to compete and win, even though the drivers’ and constructors’ titles were decided in favor of Red Bull.
Pires rejected suggestions that Verstappen might do him a favor by helping him win in Mexico in response to the service he did at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year, when the Dutchman won his controversial first world title on the last lap.
“I don’t want anyone to give me anything,” said the Mexican. “I’ve done it all without gifts for so many years now, and in the end, I don’t even think about it. It’s my job. I think about winning and I want to be perfect this weekend and look for victory.”
“In the end I think it’s normal. We all want to win. If there was a different situation, that there was a different kind of help, there is no doubt that he (Verstappen) would do it just as I did with him in the past.”
Aside from personal and national pride, Pires is also fighting to finish the season behind Verstappen.
He is third in the overall standings, two points behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc of Monaco on the eve of the race, which he finished last season in third behind Verstappen and Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton for the 16th year in a row?
Another record, perhaps more famous but less easy to obtain given the current dynamism, is one that Hamilton aspires to.
The Briton has won at least one Grand Prix in the past 15 years. If he wins this season, he will overtake Schumacher.
But Hamilton is facing his worst F1 season since his debut in 2007, and is currently sixth in the overall standings.
Mercedes did not take advantage of the technical changes that took effect at the start of the season, unlike Red Bull, and to a lesser extent Ferrari.
Hamilton had only three chances (Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi) to save his season and win the 104th race of his professional career to compensate for the disappointment of his failure to crown the eighth world title and break the record partnership with Schumacher (7 titles each).
© 2022 AFP