Verstappen the Sprint King
Among the many records that Max Verstappen has racked up in just over ten seasons in Formula 1, there's one that has gone pretty much unnoticed, namely that the Dutchman is undoubtedly King of the Sprints. There have been 18 of these short, 100 kilometre maximum distance races since the first back in 2021 and Max has won 11 of them, a strike rate of 61.11%. To look at it another way, if that percentage was applied to the main events on Sunday, he would by now have won 128 and not “just” the 63 from his total of 210 starts. One can add a further four podium finishes and nine starts from the number one grid slot, proving beyond doubt that the Sprint is definitely a happy hunting ground for the four-time world champion.
With 111 points from the short races, Verstappen is the only driver to have gone past the 100 mark, with almost double the number of his closest pursuers. Curiously, the next two drivers on this particular points list have not made it to the podium very often. In fact, second-placed Carlos on 69 points has never had a top three finish, while in third spot, Charles Leclerc has only done it once. In their four years together in the Ferrari garage, the Spaniard and the Monegasque have made a virtue of consistency to bring home a healthy points tally.
What are the factors behind Verstappen's dominance? In simple terms it's down to the superiority of his Red Bull car over the past four years from 2021 to 2024. That also explains why the Christian Horner-run team won 58 of the 90 races during that time, 53 of those courtesy of Max. On top of that, Jos's son has that ability to always be on the pace right from the start of a race weekend, a characteristic he shared with Michael Schumacher for example, who also didn't need much free practice time to get up to speed.
Does this make Verstappen favourite for Saturday's Sprint race in Shanghai? Not really, because on paper, given the form displayed by the reigning world champions in Australia, everything points to the McLaren duo heading the field, especially as they have enjoyed Sprint success in the past, with two wins and five podiums for Piastri and one win and six podiums for Norris. However, Max won the Sprint here last year and, in Melbourne, he seemed to be the only driver able to give Norris and Piastri a hard time and so he certainly cannot be ruled out, at least for Saturday.
