After a milestone in Belgium: What Max Verstappen is hoping for at the Hungarian Grand Prix

The race weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps went very well for Max Verstappen. The four-time champion from the Red Bull Racing team managed to set the second-fastest lap in qualifying; only championship leader Kimi Antonelli, in his Mercedes, was faster than the Dutchman. The Italian went on to win the race the following day, whilst Verstappen finished third behind Charles Leclerc.

This marked a milestone for the 71-time Grand Prix winner, as he made it onto the podium for the 130th time. This puts him in third place on the all-time podium list, behind Lewis Hamilton, who has finished on the podium 207 times, and Michael Schumacher, who achieved 155 podium finishes during his Grand Prix career.

Within this illustrious top-three group, he has the highest proportion of podium finishes, as the seven-time world champion from Great Britain finished 53.08 per cent of his Grand Prix starts in the top three, whilst Schumacher’s figure stands at 50.32 per cent. Verstappen has finished 53.5 per cent of his Grand Prix starts on the podium.

Looking back, the 28-year-old emphasised: “The World Championship round at Spa went very well for us, as the whole race weekend actually went very smoothly and it was lovely to celebrate our 130th podium finish with the Red Bull Racing team.”

Before the summer break, he now wants to give it his all once again at the showdown at the Hungaroring, Verstappen went on to explain. And he expressed the following hope: “The circuit is very different from Spa, and we’ll have to see how it goes. We need to make sure we set up the car properly, as how we start the weekend is crucial. I hope we’ll be right in the mix right from the start, so we can begin the race as strongly as possible.”

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“I’m keen to see how we’ll fare,” added the Red Bull Racing driver, who currently sits seventh in the World Championship standings. “Every time we race in Hungary, we’re supported by loads of fans. So we’re looking forward to returning there.”