Verstappen's greatest F1 wins ahead of landmark Dutch GP

Never before in F1 has a driver been as dominant as Max Verstappen over the past few years. 

Since the start of 2021, he has won 51 times - equalling Alain Prost's career total in just 76 races. 

The Dutchman is currently third on the all-time wins list with 61 wins, 30 behind Michael Schumacher and 44 behind Lewis Hamilton's current tally of 105. 

All of those wins have come at Red Bull since his first at the 2016 Spanish GP to his last, to date, at the 2024 Spanish GP. 

But what is his greatest victory as he is set to reach the 200 grand prix mark at next weekend's Dutch Grand Prix?

The RacingNews365 team discuss below.

Jake Nichol - 2021 United States Grand Prix

One thing that counts against Verstappen's dominant wins throughout 2022, 2023 and the start of the 2024 season was that he did not come up against any meaningful opposition. 

In itself, these wins are something to be commended, the ability to continually meet the pressure to win a grand prix and to do so consistently. We will never see a season as good as he was in 2023, again. 

I could have gone for the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix here as he somehow emerged from that chaos to win his ninth race in a row, but I've opted for the 2021 United States GP - arguably the most crucial in that first title-winning season. 

He nabbed pole from Lewis Hamilton, who got past at the first corner with the two then engaging in a strategic duel. It worked out that Verstappen was leading with Hamilton on far fresher tyres for the sprint to the flag. 

But cannily, Verstappen let Hamilton eat into the gap, preserving his own tyres rather than going banzai and trying to out-sprint Hamilton. It worked a treat.

By the time the Mercedes had caught up, Verstappen had rubber left that Hamilton did not, and that was about that. 

It was a stunning act of race-craft as Verstappen scored a pivotal victory in the world championship hunt in Hamilton's backyard - Austin being a track he had won at five times.

However, if this was a question of Verstappen's greatest race drive, then that is clearly the 2016 Brazilian GP when he finished third in the dismal conditions at Interlagos.

Samuel Coop - 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

I easily could have opted for one of Max Verstappen's recent 2024 victories, which have been the hardest fought for some time, or one of his impressive 'come through the field in a very good Red Bull, like the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, or the 2023 Miami Grand Prix.

But no. Because, as strong as they were, none came close to the magnitude of the 2021 season finale.

Now, before you cry favouritism or bias, you should read my entry for Lewis Hamilton's greatest Mercedes win - and I very nearly chose the 2021 British Grand Prix, for reasons similar to my selection here.

I do not feel the need to re-hash the specifics my choice, and how we reached those fateful final laps, given how well-trodden that ground is.

However, when trying to weigh up how I justify selecting a race that Verstappen was not, by any quantifiable measure, on course to win without the unusual and irregular intervention by race director Michael Masi, I kept coming back to one thought: What is in a moment?

A grand prix is comprised of hundreds of moments, all added together to make the sum of the result. But sometimes, there is a mere, fleeting moment that changes everything, something that turns a second place into the most consequential - and greatest - victory of a career.

For Verstappen and the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, that moment was his last lap lunge on Lewis Hamilton at the new-for-that-season Turn 5.

Yes, the Dutchman had a significant tyre advantage over the Briton, but he still had to get the move done - and we knew how tough that would be, what a difficult proposition completing a pass on a driver of Hamilton's calibre with a record-breaking eighth drivers' title on the line has have to have been.

And Verstappen caught him off-guard. Unprepared and unsuspecting. It was a calculated and gutsy decision. Had it not paid off, the Red Bull driver would likely have sacrificed his best opportunity, at the conventional over-taking spot at Turn 6.

As we know, even with the extreme tyre deficit he had, Hamilton fought back into the also-reprofiled for 2021 Turn 9, just showing how tough the Mercedes driver was on the day.

We will of course never know, but there does remain the very real possibility that had Verstappen not made his Turn 5 move stick, he would not have got the job done at all.

And for that reason, that moment, that lap, that race - and that championship - mean the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was Verstappen's greatest win.

Nick Golding - 2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Verstappen has claimed some sensational wins over the years, but for me, his greatest is his first. The 2016 Spanish Grand Prix was a landmark event even before the race got underway, as it marked Verstappen's first race as a Red Bull driver. 

He was promoted from Toro Rosso just a handful of races into the season to replace Daniil Kvyat, who was involved in multiple incidents in the opening races. 

It was a gamble by Red Bull, putting a teenager into one of the most pressuring seats on the grid. The way he treated the Spanish GP in many ways was a sign of the driver he would become, with victory having never been an expectation. 

As all great racing drivers do, he put himself in the right position to capitalise on Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg colliding on the entry to Turn 4, after overtaking Sebastian Vettel around the outside of Turn 3. Brave stuff on the first lap.

Verstappen was in second behind Red Bull team-mate at the time Daniel Ricciardo after the Mercedes duo took each other out. 

Ricciardo ended up falling behind the Dutchman later in the race due to a three-stop strategy, with Verstappen's and Kimi Raikkonen's two-stop having been quicker. 

Verstappen winning was not solely about strategy, as he had to defend from Raikkonen for several laps in the closing stages. He did so like a world champion and became the youngest F1 driver to win a race, finish on the podium and lead an entire lap.

Let us know what you think Max Verstappen's greatest win is, out of our writers' picks, by voting in the latest poll by RacingNews365. 

If you don't think his greatest victory is there, let us know what you think it is in the comments section.