The track record in Formula 1 is perhaps the most unfair of all: drivers in the 1950s and 60s took part in no more than eight races each year. In the 1980s and 1990s there were up to 15 or 16, while today there are more than 20 GPs starting every year. Still, it remains a record, and the list includes only the sport’s elite.

Nobody knows how many victories Ayrton Senna would have had if the tragic May Day of 1994 hadn’t intervened, or how many Fernando Alonso would have been luckier in his team decisions. These two drivers are not among the elite of F1 drivers with more than 50 victories, and that is a small milestone in history, but in no way detracts from the achievement of Max Verstappen with his 50th career victory at the United States GP last Sunday.

Max has 15 wins from 18 races this year, and given the extent of Red Bull Racing’s dominance, he will soon threaten Alain Prost’s 51 and Sebastian Vettel’s 53, and everything points to him facing Michael’s 91 Schumacher can get closer – as the Formula 1 regulations remain unchanged for another two years. So let’s look at the four drivers who, along with Verstappen, belong to the elite of 50 (and more) victories in the sport:

Alain Prost: 51 wins

Each of “Mr. “Professor” was very well calculated and thoroughly studied – hence his nickname. The Frenchman was the first driver to break the 50-victory mark and won the 1993 British GP ahead of the two Benettons of Michael Schumacher and Riccardo Patrese. It was one of his seven victories this season, his last in Formula 1, securing his fourth world title.

Prost had achieved most of his victories with McLaren-TAG and McLaren-Honda in the 1980s, but in 1991 he didn’t even manage a single victory with Ferrari. He had described the Cavallino as “a terrible red bus” and that was the beginning of the end of his days at Maranello.

Sebastian Vettel: 53 wins

Red Bull Racing’s first-time champion claimed the vast majority of his 53 victories during a dominant four-year run from 2010 to 2013 in which he won all four of his championships. But his first race was very special as he managed it with Toro Rosso in rainy Monza and showed the world his phenomenal talent. This was followed by 38 victories with Red Bull Racing from 2009 to 2014 and a further 15 with Ferrari from 2016 to 2020 – which, however, did not lead to a title win with Scuderia.

Verstappen only needs three more wins to equal his Red Bull champion predecessor’s record – and he can still do that this year. The Dutchman has already broken Vettel’s record as the youngest F1 GP winner with his victory in Barcelona in 2016 – he was 21 years and 73 days old when he won at Monza.

Michael Schumacher: 91 wins

Just a year after Sumi’s glittering debut with Jordan at the Belgian GP in 1991, he celebrated his first victory at the same circuit in autumn 1992 – this time with Benetton. The latter’s rise to the championship allowed Schumacher to achieve 17 victories with his two championships in 1994 and 1995, but the storm came with his move to Ferrari in 1996.

In his first year in Maranello, the German only managed three victories, including his unforgettable triumph at the Deluge in Barcelona. Under Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, Ferrari gradually improved until they built the 1999-2004 empire in which “Sumi” increased his victories to an unimaginable 91. At the time, no one believed that this record would ever be done.

Lewis Hamilton: 103 wins

But the record would be broken. From Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren prodigy who burst onto the scene in 2007 by “staring into the eyes” of two-time champion Fernando Alonso in his first season and taking his first win in Canada earlier this summer. A year later he would win his first championship with McLaren, but his move to Mercedes and the Brackley team’s era of absolute dominance from 2014-21 saw a string of victories.

Lewis broke ‘Sumi’s’ record at the 2020 Portuguese GP and has since added a further 11 wins to his tally – and no one can bet that tally won’t increase with his recent two-year contract extension with Mercedes. W13 and W14’s lack of competitiveness over the last two seasons prevented him from extending the record, as these remain the only two years of his F1 career in which he did not win at least one GP. So one question remains: Where can Hamilton get this record? And secondly: Will the new “king” of Formula 1, Max Verstappen, manage to break him?

Formula 1 wins – The top ten

• 103 – Lewis Hamilton
• 91 – Michael Schumacher
• 53 – Sebastian Vettel
• 51 – Alain Prost
• 50 – Max Verstappen
• 41 – Ayrton Senna
• 32 – Fernando Alonso
• 31 – Nigel Mansell
• 27 – Jackie Stewart
• 25 – Jimmy Clark, Niki Lauda