Max Verstappen's victory in the Bahrain GP in Malaysia on Sunday took him to 72 F1 grand prix wins, moving the Red Bull driver to within 19 of Michael Schumacher's total of 91.
But can Verstappen eventually overhaul the seven-time F1 champion? Only Lewis Hamilton, with 106 wins, stands above the duo.
The raw numbers favour Verstappen heavily on one measure. By the age of 28, he has already more than doubled Schumacher's win count at the same age, a gap largely explained by Verstappen's earlier F1 debut and the sport's expanded modern calendars, which now offer far more races per season than Schumacher had available.
But starts-for-starts, the picture shifts. Across equivalent numbers of race starts, Schumacher's win total and victory percentage remain higher than Verstappen's at the same stage of his career, a reminder that Ferrari's early-2000s dominance was built on a smaller but relentlessly efficient points-scoring machine.
Verstappen's extended Red Bull contract, running through 2030, gives him a potential runway of at least four more full seasons to close the gap, assuming the team can maintain competitiveness through the new technical regulations.
After breaking its win drought in Sepang, can Red Bull build on that and keep delivering winning machinery into next year and beyond, one that will shape Verstappen's realistic chances of reaching 91 wins, let alone surpassing them, before his contract expires?
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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding as they look back on the Bahrain GP in Malaysia, but also look ahead to this weekend's race in Singapore. The confusing and shocking start is a major talking point as is Red Bull's rise.
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