Three more points will guarantee Max Verstappen his third consecutive world championship. With his efforts and success, he may become the first driver to win a championship in a non-main race event. In Saturday’s sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix, the Dutchman may easily get the required points to win. Even though the journey to the top may have seemed simple, it was all of his dedication that brought him this success. Verstappen has long been compared to legendary drivers like Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. After this year’s dominant run, he has elevated himself to the elite list among the greats.
The 25-year-old has taken home 48 Grand Prix victories while also shattering many records. The Red Bull driver broke Ayrton Senna’s record of 41 victories at the Austrian Grand Prix this year. Many former F1 drivers and experts have praised him for his consistency and compared him to Schumacher and Senna. Even Red Bull ambassador David Coulthard, in his interview with Channel 4, compared Verstappen to the modern greats.
Another Former F1 driver Gerhard Berger claims that he hasn’t seen such dominance and talent in the last 50 years. The ex-F1 driver said, “ Verstappen and Senna are unique in the business they are the two best I have seen in the last 50 years.” Though none of these comparisons matter to Max Verstappen.
Max Verstappen opens up by comparing himself with the elites
This season, the 25-year-old has won 13 of the 16 Grand Prix races. The Dutchman also broke the record for the most number of races won in a row with 10. Impressed with Verstappen’s performance, Vettel, whose record he broke, praised Verstappen too.
When asked if Schumacher had been an inspiration for him, the Dutchman provided a surprising response. As per a tweet by RBR he said, “ I appreciated everyone’s success. From my side, I was like ‘I want to be there one day. I want to stand on the podium or win races’. But I think everyone’s different, everyone has a different way [of] how you get to Formula 1 anyway. A different upbringing.”
Later the 25-year-old added that, “ The success of some of the greats is amazing. You might get a little bit of inspiration from it. But I wouldn’t necessarily want to try and do it the same way if you know what I mean.”
In addition to the various people talking about Verstappen’s greatness, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has always risen up to praise his star driver.
Christian Horner responds to the similarities between Verstappen and Schumacher
In the early 2000s, Michael Schumacher was the dominant force in F1, much like Red Bull and Verstappen are, currently. Similar to the German ace who won five straight crowns between 2000 and 2004, Verstappen, after winning two consecutive championships is aiming to take his win a third win in Qatar.
With his 13 race victories so far this season, Verstappen is being compared to Schumacher given that he refuses to give his competitors as well. And now that this has become abundantly apparent with Horner too reacting to the similarities between them.
According to Yahoo.com, the 49-year-old said, “ I think he’s just got this inner hunger and determination and huge ability. He channels it and he doesn’t get distracted by some of the trappings of Formula 1, he’s just an out and out racer.”
The season is left with only six races and it remains to be seen if Verstappen can break his own record by winning over 15 races.
