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FACTS AND STATS: Verstappen breaks Vettel’s record for most laps led in a season

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Sean Kelly
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LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - OCTOBER 08: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull

A day after securing his third drivers’ title, Max Verstappen was adding another victory and making more history in the Qatar Grand Prix. But the Dutchman wasn’t the only one generating some fascinating figures at the Lusail International Circuit on Sunday…

• Verstappen today won for the 14th consecutive time when starting from pole, the longest streak in F1 history.

• Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel's record for the most laps led in a single season during this race (739), with five races still remaining in 2023.

• Verstappen extends his points-scoring streak to 36 consecutive races, the second-longest streak of all time.

REPORT: Verstappen cruises to Qatar GP victory over Piastri and Norris after Mercedes drivers collide

• Verstappen has now won on 24 different circuits in his F1 career, passing Michael Schumacher's total and trailing only Lewis Hamilton’s (31).

• Verstappen now leads the drivers’ championship by over 200 points. The largest winning margin ever at the end of a season is 155 points by Vettel in 2013.

• Today was Verstappen's 10th hat-trick of win, pole position and fastest lap, surpassing the total of Juan-Manuel Fangio and trailing only Jim Clark (11), Lewis Hamilton (19) and Michael Schumacher (22).

LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - OCTOBER 08: Second placed Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren and Third

The team in orange are on a roll after two double podiums on the trot

• Second place was Oscar Piastri’s best career result in a Grand Prix after the McLaren rookie won the Sprint on Saturday.

• With Lando Norris taking P3, McLaren have scored a double podium in consecutive races for the first time since the 2010 Canadian and European Grands Prix.

• McLaren are now 11 points behind Aston Martin in the battle for fourth in the constructors' championship.

DRIVER OF THE DAY: Piastri follows Sprint win with another podium to earn your vote

• George Russell took P4, having survived being spun to the back by Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton at the first corner.

• It means Russell has still only finished on the podium once in 2023, with third place in Spain.

• Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured P5 – he has now finished in the top five at the last four consecutive races but without finishing on the podium.

• After taking P6 for Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso moves to within 11 points of third-placed Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' championship.

• Esteban Ocon finished in P7 and is now just two points behind Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly in the championship table.

• The Alpine drivers now have the same number of podium finishes (1) and points finishes (9) in 2023.

LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - OCTOBER 08: Zhou Guanyu of China driving the (24) Alfa Romeo F1 C43 Ferrari

Alfa Romeo enjoyed their best overall result of the season so far

• In P8, Valtteri Bottas matched his and Alfa Romeo's best result of the season from the Bahrain Grand Prix.

• Team mate Zhou Guanyu in P9 also matched his best result of the season (Australia and Spain).

• Both Alfa Romeos scored in the same race for the first time in 2023.

• With P10 for Red Bull, Sergio Perez remains second in the drivers' championship, leading Lewis Hamilton by 30 points.

• Hamilton retired on the opening lap of a race for the sixth time in his F1 career and for the first time since Belgium 2022.

RACE START: Watch as Hamilton and Russell collide in eventful opening lap in Qatar

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