Max Verstappen has now been at the top of the Formula 1 World Championship for more than 1,000 days – No other driver has been at the top for so long
Formula One is currently still in the winter break, but that has not stopped Max Verstappen from breaking another barrier “on the couch”. The Dutchman has now been leading the drivers’ world championship in the premier class for 1,000 days.
Specifically, Verstappen took the lead in the World Championship on May 22, 2022 with his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. At the time, the Red Bull driver ousted Charles Leclerc from the top of the drivers’ world championship and has not given up this lead to this day.
After all, after Verstappen won the 2022 World Championship title, he also won the 2023 season opener. This scenario was repeated a year later. As a result, there has been no other World Champion in Formula 1 for more than two years and eight months.
And because the four-time world champion also won the title again in 2024, he cannot lose the championship lead until March 16, 2025 in Melbourne at the earliest. At that point, he would have been at the top of the world championship for 1,029 days in a row.
Verstappen already overtook Schumacher in 2024
Verstappen had already grabbed the record before that, during the 2024 season. The previous record was held by Michael Schumacher, who also spent more than two years at the top of the Formula 1 World Championship from the USA Grand Prix in 2000.
After two “perfect” seasons in 2001 and 2002, in which he led the World Championship from the first to the last race, the streak only ended after 896 days at the 2003 season opener in Melbourne, which David Coulthard won, while “Schumi” only came in fourth.
Verstappen is the first driver to break the 1,000-day mark as the World Cup leader. And if you don’t take the number of days but the number of races at the top of the World Cup as a basis, the Dutchman has distanced Schumacher and Co. even more clearly.
Because there are more Grands Prix today than there used to be, “Schumi” led the World Championship “only” 37 races in a row back then, while Verstappen has already done so for 63. It’s interesting to note that Lewis Hamilton, who like Schumacher won the World Championship title seven times, is not at the top of any list.
The Briton’s personal best is “only” 546 consecutive days at the top of the World Cup (Singapore 2014 to Australia 2016), which corresponds to 25 races and not even two years. Verstappen, on the other hand, has the chance to extend the record to more than three years in a row in 2025.
Total time as world champion: Hamilton chases Schumacher
By contrast, Verstappen is still several years away from a similar Schumacher record. If you add up the total time of all World Cup leads, then “Schumi” stood in his career a whopping 2,562 days at the top of the Formula 1 World Cup.
Verstappen, on the other hand, has only managed 1,281 days, which is only half as long as the German’s time. Converted, this means that Verstappen would need another 3.5 years at the top of the World Cup to overtake Schumacher.
Incidentally, if the number of races is taken as a basis here, Schumacher would have been rid of the record for several years already. While he “only” managed 121 races as world champion, Lewis Hamilton has already had five more, making it 126.
In days, however, that only corresponds to 2,436 for the Briton, so he is still 126 days behind Schumacher. However, if the move to Ferrari gives his career a new boost, he could overtake “Schumi” here in the coming years.
