After a record-breaking year, Formula One champion Max Verstappen isn't ready for 2023 to end just yet.
Especially when another milestone can be reached at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Another victory would take him to 54 for his career, past former Red Bull star Sebastian Vettel and into outright third place on the all-time victories list for the international open-wheel series.
"Of course it's quite a crazy number. We had a crazy, crazy year," Verstappen said. "It will end at one point, but hopefully not too soon."
Verstappen sewed up his third straight title weeks ago and is looking for a record-extending 19th win of the season — he broke his own mark of 15, set last year — but acknowledged he already has one eye on 2024.
"I love driving, that's the foremost, and winning is the best thing in Formula One," the Dutch star said. "At the same time I'm very focused on what's ahead of me, and hopefully next year we have a competitive car again and continue that momentum."
There will be new targets in 2024: chasing a fourth F1 title to move level with Vettel and Alain Prost, and gaining more ground on seven-time F1 champions Michael Schumacher (91 victories) and Lewis Hamilton (103) for most race wins.
Verstappen is only 26 years old, though, and has many years left to close the gap.
His highlights for 2023?
"Winning the comeback race in Miami was great, I think that was an important one," he said. "Winning in Suzuka (Japan) after the tough race we had in Singapore."
The Singapore GP on Sept. 17 was won by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr., the lone driver besides Verstappen or his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Pérez, to win an F1 grand prix this year.
It's hard to believe now because Verstappen leads Pérez by 276 points, the approximate tally for 11 wins, but heading into the fifth race of the season, it was close between them.
Having won two of the first four races, Pérez declared himself a championship contender — a claim he backed up by taking pole position at the Miami GP in May.
Verstappen botched qualifying, started the race ninth and still won. Pérez never recovered, and the title was never in doubt after that.
"Max has just been incredible this year; no one thought we could better than 2022," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. "You have to start to talk about him among the greatest names in the sport. He's got a lot of racing still ahead of him."
Red Bull's dominance has given others so little to compete for. But something is at stake this weekend for both Ferrari and Mercedes at least: the quest to finish second in the constructors' championship.
Mercedes has a four-point lead by 392-388, but Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has finished on the podium in two of the past three races. Still, he hasn't won since the Austrian GP in July 2022.
"Momentum is good, but the big work remains to be done on track," Leclerc said. "We will have to put everything together in order to fight them and beat them in the constructors' championship."
Mercedes driver George Russell, Hamilton's teammate, expects the difference will be made on race day.
"We're going in with an open mind," he said. "In qualifying I think they will have slightly the upper hand, as they've tended to do so this season, but come Sunday I think it will be a different story."