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Max Verstappen is now a two-time world champion! The Red Bull driver made that happen when he led from the start and dominated a shortened race to seal the title. The title was special for the Dutch driver as it was his second one. It was, however, another weekend where Max Verstappen rewrote the history book.
On his way to a second title, Max Verstappen broke quite a few records at the Japanese GP. Let's take a look at a few of them.
#1 Lewis Hamilton's career best of most wins in a season (11)
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Max Verstappen now has 12 wins this season from 18 races. The win at the Suzuka circuit was extra special because that 12th win helped him surpass Lewis Hamilton's career-best record of 11 wins in a season. Hamilton has achieved that feat in four different seasons, but has never gone beyond that.
The overall record for most wins in a season is 13, and with four races left, Max Verstappen will be aiming to beat that as well.
#2 Max Verstappen is now the second youngest two-time world champion in F1 history
Not many F1 pundits or fans realized it, but Verstappen was able to beat Fernando Alonso's record to become the second youngest two-time world champion. Last season when Max Verstappen became the world champion, he was the fourth youngest behind Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso.
Alonso became a double champion at the age of 25 years and 85 days, while Verstappen has become one at the age of 25 years and 9 days. The record for the youngest double champion stands with Sebastian Vettel at 24 years and 99 days.
#3 Became the first champion to be crowned in Suzuka since 2011
The Japanese Grand Prix has been etched in history for some of the brilliant title deciders that featured Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. With the race getting pushed further up the calendar, champions tend not to be crowned at this race. Verstappen turned things around this season as he sealed the championship with 4 races left.
The last time this did happen was in 2011 when former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel sealed his championship at Suzuka by finishing P2 in the race behind Jenson Button. Coincidentally, that was Sebastian Vettel's second world title as well.
#4 Broke the record for the biggest win margin at the F1 Japanese GP
Verstappen's impressive drive at the F1 Japanese GP did get overshadowed by the subsequent news of his title win. What makes this win even more impressive is the fact that the Red Bull driver broke a decade-old record. In a shortened race that lasts only 28 laps, you don't expect a driver to break the record for the biggest win margin for the Grand Prix.
This was exactly what Verstappen did. In a 28 lap race, Max Verstappen was able to pull out a gap of 27 seconds to the second driver in the race.
Verstappen ended up beating a decade-old record for the biggest win margin at the Japanese GP set by Sebastian Vettel in the 2012 season. Vettel won the race in 2012 by a margin of 20 seconds. Verstappen bettered it on Sunday by pulling off a gap of 27 seconds in just 28 laps. If that's not true dominance, then it's hard to say what is!
#5 Most 1-2 finishes in a season for Red Bull
In what should be considered a validation for Sergio Perez as well, the 1-2 finish for Red Bull at Suzuka gave the Verstappen-Perez pair its 5th such finish this season. The duo has pulled off a 1-2 finish in Imola, Bahrain, Baku, Belgium, and now Suzuka as well. The previous record was held by the pair of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel that had four 1-2 finishes to its name.
Max Verstappen's title triumph was almost a formality after he started dominating after the summer break. What is however significant is that the Dutch driver is starting to redefine the benchmark in F1. He's starting to better the levels achieved by his predecessors and is raising the bar when it comes to consistency and performance.
