Max Verstappen now has a wealth of experience in Formula 1. The Dutchman is on the eve of his ninth season, while still only 25 years old.
Verstappen is already a two-time World Champion but, in 2023, where can he rank compared to the all-time greats?
Starting with the list of most experienced F1 drivers, he has some way to go before reaching the top. However, if all goes well this year, he will move up several places on this leader board.
He won't come close to Fernando Alonso, as the Spaniard will take his total number of race starts to 379 in 2023, if he starts all the races.
Verstappen starts the season at number 34 in the list of most GP starts of all time. He will end the year at 186 race starts, which will see him reach the edge of the top 25. Check out the list below.
Drivers with an * after their names are still active this year.
Most experienced F1 drivers of all time
| Pos. | Driver | Number of GPs |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Alonso* | 356 |
| 2. | Raikkonen | 350 |
| 3. | Barrichello | 323 |
| 4. | Hamilton* | 310 |
| 5. | M. Schumacher | 307 |
| 6. | Button | 306 |
| 7. | Vettel | 299 |
| 8. | Massa | 269 |
| 9. | Patrese | 256 |
| 10. | Trulli | 252 |
| 11. | Coulthard | 246 |
| 12. | Perez* | 235 |
| 13. | Ricciardo | 232 |
| 14. | Fisichella | 229 |
| 15. | Webber | 215 |
| 16. | Berger | 210 |
| 17. | De Cesaris | 208 |
| 18. | Rosberg | 206 |
| 19. | Nelson Piquet sr. | 204 |
| 20. | Alesi | 201 |
| 21. | Bottas* | 200 |
| 22. | Prost | 199 |
| 23. | Alboreto | 194 |
| 24. | Mansell | 187 |
| 25. | Heidfeld | 183 |
| 26. | Hulkenberg* | 181 |
| 27. | R. Schumacher | 180 |
| 28. | Grosjean | 179 |
| 29. | Laffite | 176 |
| 30. | G. Hill | 175 |
| 31. | Lauda | 171 |
| 32. | Boutsen | 163 |
| 33. | J. Villeneuve | 163 |
| 34. | M. Verstappen* | 163 |
| 35. | Sainz* | 162 |
Most wins
In the overall list of most GP wins, Verstappen made huge strides during his record-breaking season in 2022, in which he claimed 15 victories. In fact, he is now already in the top 10 most successful F1 drivers ever, and this year he could rise even further.
In theory, Verstappen could move from P6 to P3 in the rankings, but realistically it may not be possible to win that many races. The Dutchman could overtake Ayrton Senna, with the Brazilian only six races ahead in the standings.
Catching up with Alain Prost in fourth could be more difficult, as that would require winning as many as 16 races. But with 15 victories last year, might it be possible?
GP victories of all time
| # | Driver | Wins | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hamilton* | 103 | 34.7% |
| 2. | M. Schumacher | 91 | 29.6% |
| 3. | Vettel | 53 | 18.5% |
| 4. | Prost | 51 | 25.7% |
| 5. | Senna | 41 | 25.5% |
| 6. | M. Verstappen* | 35 | 17.3% |
| 7. | Alonso* | 32 | 9.3% |
| 8. | Mansell | 31 | 16.6% |
| 9. | Stewart | 27 | 27.3% |
| 10. | Clark | 25 | 34.7% |
Most podiums
On the podium front, Verstappen looks set to move up the rankings. In 2023, he stood on the podium 17 times. This also put him in the top 10 in the overall list of podium finishes.
However, it remains to be seen whether he can move up more than one spot this year, because only an almost perfect season will do that, assuming Alonso does not score any podiums. In any case, with a 47.2% top-three finish rate, we can expect plenty of podiums from the Dutchman again this year.
GP podiums of all time
| # | Driver | Podiums | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hamilton | 191 | 61.6% |
| 2. | M. Schumacher | 155 | 50.5% |
| 3. | Vettel | 122 | 40.8% |
| 4. | Prost | 106 | 53.3% |
| 5. | Raikkonen | 103 | 29.4% |
| 6. | Alonso | 98 | 27.5% |
| 7. | Senna | 80 | 49.7% |
| 8. | Verstappen | 77 | 47/2% |
| 9. | Barrichello | 68 | 21.1% |
| 10. | Bottas | 67 | 33.5% |
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Pole positions
In terms of pole positions, Verstappen still lags a bit behind the competition. It took him a relatively long time to grab his first pole, but by claiming seven in 2023 and 10 in the year before that, the Red Bull driver has made up ground.
In the all-time standings, he is not yet in the top 10, but he will achieve this if he matches his number from last year.
All-time pole positions
| # | Driver | Poles | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hamilton* | 103 | 33.2% |
| 2. | M. Schumacher | 68 | 22.2% |
| 3. | Senna | 65 | 40.4% |
| 4. | Vettel | 57 | 19.1% |
| 5. | Clark | 33 | 45.8% |
| 6. | Prost | 33 | 16.6% |
| 7. | Mansell | 32 | 17.1% |
| 8. | Rosberg | 30 | 14.6% |
| 9. | Fangio | 29 | 56.9% |
| 10. | Hakkinen | 26 | 16.2% |
| 11. | Lauda | 24 | 14% |
| 12. | Piquet | 24 | 11.8% |
| 13. | Alonso* | 22 | 6.2% |
| 14. | Hill | 20 | 17.4% |
| 15. | Verstappen* | 20 | 12.3% |
| 16. | Bottas* | 20 | 10% |
World titles
Formula 1 is, of course, all about world titles. Verstappen has sealed his place in the history books by winning two championships so far.
This is not enough for a spot in the top 10 of the all-time rankings, but in 2023 he may manage to grab the shared sixth spot. Five other drivers managed to capture a total of three world titles, and another five drivers won even more.
Can Verstappen grab his third title in a row in 2023 and be on par with big names like Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna?
Number of world titles
| # | Driver | World titles |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lewis Hamilton* | 7 |
| = | Michael Schumacher | 7 |
| 3. | Juan Manuel Fangio | 5 |
| 4. | Alain Prost | 4 |
| = | Sebastian Vettel | 4 |
| 6. | Jack Brabham | 3 |
| = | Jackie Stewart | 3 |
| = | Niki Lauda | 3 |
| = | Nelson Piquet | 3 |
| = | Ayrton Senna | 3 |
| 11. | Max Verstappen* | 2 |
| = | Fernando Alonso* | 2 |
| = | Mika Hakkinen | 2 |
| = | Emerson Fittipaldi | 2 |
| = | Graham Hill | 2 |
| = | Jim Clark | 2 |
| = | Alberto Ascari | 2 |
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