Max Verstappen took his 10th win in a row in Monza last weekend, which was the 15th consecutive victory for Red Bull.
Extending its clean sweep of 2023 race wins, the Milton Keynes team is another step closer to winning all 22 races this year, which would be unprecedented in the world championship.
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McLaren won 15 out of 16 races in 1988 with its all-conquering MP4/4, only missing out on a clean sweep when Ayrton Senna tangled with Williams stand-in Jean-Louis Schlesser at Monza.
Until the Italian Grand Prix, Red Bull has always publicly refused to look beyond the next race. But with just eight races remaining Marko admitted that, after breaking F1’s record for consecutive race wins, delivering a perfect season is now the next big carrot dangling in front of it.
«First of all our goal is to secure the world championships,» the Austrian told Autosport.
«But let’s say if we win in Singapore, then the chance is there that we can win all the races. Of course, it is becoming a goal now.
«In the beginning of the season, it was not realistic to win all the races and it has never happened before.
«McLaren was stopped here [in 1988], so the press constructed a story that the curse would hit us as well, but we didn’t let it hit us.»
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Erik Junius
Monza was expected to be a track where Red Bull could have tripped up, but Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez saw off a spirited challenge from Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to deliver a 1-2.
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The team believes next weekend’s Singapore could be its biggest obstacle to an invincible season as its RB19 doesn’t get on so well with bumpy layouts, but Marko still expects Red Bull to be the favourite.
«Like every race, we have had a competitive car everywhere so why should that not be the case in Singapore?» Marko added.
«But I have to say Ferrari and especially Leclerc is a specialist around there. If they are faster in qualifying, then it could become a problem for us because overtaking in Singapore is very difficult.
«But I’m still optimistic that the package we are bringing to Singapore is good enough to win.»
When asked how Red Bull can be beaten this year, team boss Christian Horner said: «There are so many elements, whether it’s reliability, whether it’s luck, whether it’s strategy, whether it’s a pitstop, whether it’s pace. Weather — there are so many elements.
«You’ve got to stay on top of your game, and I think that’s what, for me, that’s the most remarkable achievement this year so far is that we haven’t dropped the ball.
Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing Team Principal
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
«We’ve managed to keep operating at an incredibly high level, and that’s something that’s not been seen before.»
Horner admitted that the prospect of writing even more history this season with a clean sweep has kept his team sharp and focused.
«I think for the whole team, everything that we’re doing at the moment, we’re making history,» he explained.
«It’s not often you get the chance to do that.»