Can Red Bull's RB18 beat Mercedes in this all-time Formula 1 list?

With victory in the United States Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing can now call themselves World Champions in 2022. Max Verstappen had already claimed his title two weeks earlier in the Japanese Grand Prix. But even with all the celebrations, there are still three races on the calendar and there's a new goal for Red Bull. 

All-time points list 

Red Bull have currently scored 656 points this season which puts them sixth in the all-time list. Given the points inflation and higher number of Grands Prix, along with their superior car, it's not a surprise to see the top five spaces all taken up by Mercedes. In 2016, Mercedes set the benchmark at 765 points. They scored more than 700 three more times (in 2019, 2015 and 2014) whilst also achieving 668 points in 2017. 

The points inflation makes it impossible to compare at face value, but it would still be a statement of their this season. With 132 points left up for grabs via three one-two finishes and three fastest-lap bonus points, Red Bull have a very small margin for error if they want to get top spot on this list. This would inflict some extra pain on Mercedes who at one stage looked extremely unlikely to ever lose this record. Even with points inflation, it would certainly mark the RB18 as one of the most dominant cars in Formula 1 history just when the new rules and regulations were introduced to try and prevent this kind of thing from happening. This all comes following a double DNF in the first race of the season. 

Percentage of wins 

Arguably, a better way of measuring the dominance of cars from multiple generations is to look at the win percentage. Red Bull currently don't sit anywhere near the top of this list, with 'just' 68% of races won in the 2022 Formula 1 season. Victories in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi will take them to nearly 82% but that's still short of the best. Remarkably in 2016 Mercedes won 90% of the races. 

Michael Schumacher's domination with Ferrari was felt the strongest in 2002 when the Italian team won 88% of the races. But it's the McLaren MP4/4 that stands at the top of the list. Teammates Alain Prost and Aryton Senna engaged in a brilliant battle in 1988, winning all but one race across the season. 

On Sunday, Verstappen equalled the record of 13 wins in one season. The Dutchman now shares this record with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel who managed to record the feat in collaboration with Red Bull. Verstappen has three chances to take this record and could smash it if he was to win all of them. The win in Austin puts Verstappen ahead of Fernando Alonso in the list of all-time wins. Next season, Verstappen lines up Senna for fifth place.