"Just a record": Max Verstappen gives his take on potentially beating another prestigious Lewis Hamilton record

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen recently said that he wasn't bothered about breaking another record held by his rival Lewis Hamilton in the upcoming races.

The three-time world champion broke many a record in his iconic 2023 season, which included winning 19 out of 22 races and scoring 575 points in the championship. He also broke Sebastian Vettel's record for most consecutive race wins in the sport by winning his tenth race running at Monza.

Despite his incredible consistency and bulletproof season, Max Verstappen is still seven races behind Lewis Hamilton in matching the record for most consecutive race finishes in the sport. The Mercedes driver did not retire from any races from the 2018 British GP to the 2020 Bahrain GP.

There is a possibility that Max Verstappen could break the record next year if he finishes the first eight races without retirement. Speaking with a German publication, Blick, the Dutch driver said of the record:

"Just a record, maybe I can break it."

When asked if he remembered the last time he failed to finish the race, the Red Bull driver said:

"Naturally. In Melbourne 2022. I think it was a fuel leak or something. Such mishaps are part of it and increase the attention of the entire team. To become a world champion, you can hardly afford many failures. You have to score, score."

Max Verstappen analyzes his 2023 season at the FIA Prize Giving

The three-time world champion stated that he got a bit emotional while standing on the top step of the podium in Abu Dhabi when he realized that he wouldn't drive the RB19 again.

As per F1.com, Max Verstappen said:

“I think it did hit me a little bit more once I was standing on the podium in Abu Dhabi, you realize the season is over, you don’t get to drive this car anymore, unfortunately. It’s been incredible."

He continued:

"It’s been great fun as well to work with everyone. We all want to win, we want to do the best we can, but when you’re traveling around so much all over the world, you want to also do it with a great group of people, and we have that at Red Bull. I’m extremely proud of what we have achieved, but I hope also that it doesn’t stop here!”

It will be interesting to see if the Dutch driver can join Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and Michael Schumacher to become the fourth driver in F1 history to win a fourth consecutive championship.