Max Verstappen predicts exactly how many races he’ll win this season

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Red Bull driver and reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen says he expects to win around 12 races this season.

Verstappen made an ominous start to his title defence last weekend as he took a ‘Grand Slam’ in Bahrain.

But he’s still played down his chances of winning more than half of this year’s Grands Prix.

The Dutchman beat Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc to pole position by two tenths of a second and then romped to a 22-second victory on race day.

He’s bidding to become the fifth driver in F1 history to win four or more consecutive world titles after Michael Schumacher (2000-2005), Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-1957), Sebastian Vettel (2010-2013), Lewis Hamilton (2017-2020).

Since the start of the 2022 season, the 26-year-old has won 35 out of 45 races, setting a record for the longest run of consecutive victories (10) between Miami and Italy last year.

Max Verstappen backs himself to win 12 races in 2024

In an interview with Viaplay Sports Nederland, Verstappen was asked how many more victories he’ll add to his tally in 2024.

He said: “How many Grand Prix will Max Verstappen win this season? Twelve.”

When it was put to him that this was a ‘humble’ prediction in light of his recent success rate, he replied: “Yeah, if it becomes more I can always say I did a better job.”

Verstappen has clear advantage over F1 rivals

Verstappen has won praise from BBC F1 pundit Alice Powell for his ‘unreal’ consistency.

He last failed to finish a Grand Prix in Australia in 2022, scoring a record 1,030 points in the period since.

Only five times in that stretch has he finished lower than second place, and only eight times has he missed out on victory.

Given the extent of Red Bull’s superiority in Bahrain, Sergio Perez looks the most likely challenger for the moment.

But Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok has already told him to accept that he won’t be able to beat Verstappen this season.

Perez did at least win last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, offering him some hope that he can strike back this weekend.