The Brazilian Grand Prix was one of the few races that Red Bull did
not win last year, after George Russell managed to take Mercedes
only win of the year. Red Bull has won every race apart from the
Singapore GP this year, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez taking
a combined 18 wins. Could there be more opportunities for drivers
to deny Verstappen a chance to extend his win record to 17 this
year? Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen thinks there
can only be two challengers. The two drivers that can stop
Verstappen “In my opinion there are two drivers who can stop Max
Verstappen from winning the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend –
Lewis Hamilton or Lando Norris,” Hakkinen told Unibet . Verstappen
stands a chance of eclipsing Alberto Ascari’s 71-year win
percentage record of 77.27%, if he takes another victory on Sunday.
“Max is going for win number 17 this season but the way Lewis and
Lando are driving at the moment I think it’s possible they could
cause problems for Red Bull,” said Hakkinen. “I thought both of
them drove brilliantly in Mexico, there is a real fire in their
driving, and if they can continue that momentum into Interlagos
anything can happen.” Does not matter where Verstappen starts As
has been seen throughout the 2023 season, Verstappen has been able
to start a low down as sixth on the grid and still win a race by a
comfortable margin. Hakkinen believes this outright performance is
what sets him apart from the rest, after winning the same amount of
races as the Finn contested during his 1998 and 1999
championship-winning seasons. “It’s incredible to think that Max
has won 16 races – the total number of races which used to make up
the entire World Championship back when I was winning my two
titles!” said Hakkinen. “It does not matter whether Max is on pole
or, as we saw in Mexico, a lower grid position. The car has the
performance to win every time and he knows how to extract it.”
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