This article is published in collaboration with Statista
by Martin Armstrong
Red Bull driver and reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has, at the age of 25, already ticked the career boxes most budding F1 hopefuls can only ever dream of. The Dutch champion has now reached the level where chasing the achievements of the sport's legends are the major milestones left to reach.
Yesterday, in winning the Canadian Grand Prix, Verstappen completed one of the significant goals on that list: Equaling Ayrton Senna's race win record of 41. While Max himself expressed said he "hates" to comparing drivers from different generations the scale of his latest accomplishment was not lost on him: "All I can say is when I was a little kid in go-karting, I was dreaming of being in F1 and I would never have dreamed of winning 41 grands prix. So to tie with Ayrton is incredible, but I hope it is not stopping here."
For perspective, and to back up Verstappen's cautiousness in any direct comparisons with the Brazilian 3-time world champion, Senna's last championship winning season in 1991 consisted of 16 races, Verstappen's last season was contested over 22. Senna's life was also cut tragically short at the age of 34, when he died after a crash while leading the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
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