October 22nd 2023.
Max Verstappen celebrated his 50th Formula One victory at the United States Grand Prix in Austin. After an impressive drive from sixth on the grid, Verstappen managed to hold off Sir Lewis Hamilton's pressure in the closing stages to secure the remarkable milestone.
"The whole race, I was struggling a lot with the brakes," Verstappen said post-race. "I couldn't really have the same feeling as yesterday [in the Sprint] so that definitely made my race a bit tougher out here today. It was very close at the end and also with the backmarkers, the tyres are already going so it makes it more difficult."
He continued, "It's incredible to win my 50th Grand Prix here. Very proud of course and we will keep on trying to push for more."
Verstappen is now only the fifth driver in history to reach a half-century of wins, after Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost. With four races of the season remaining, the 26-year-old has the chance to surpass both Prost's and Vettel's tally before the year is out.
Unfortunately, his celebration was dampened by the crowd who booed as he walked onto the podium and received his trophy. It is believed that the strong contingent of Mexican fans at the Circuit of the Americas, who support Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez, were behind the boos and chants of 'Checo!'.
Perez has been under significant pressure this season, due to his largely underwhelming performances compared to his teammate. Not helping matters is the constant criticism of Perez from Red Bull chief Helmut Marko, who was also forced to apologise after making xenophobic comments towards his own driver, an incident that has damaged the team's reputation significantly.
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