Picking up where he left off last season, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has been in near-invincible form. Red Bull. Although Red Bull is the best dominant team on the grid, the fact that his teammate Sergio Perez is so far behind him shows that there are bigger things at play. Two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen believes that Red Bull always builds a car that is suited more to Verstappen. He thinks it will be difficult for anyone to beat Verstappen, given how his car is tuned.
In the 12 races so far this season, Verstappen has featured on the podium on all 12 occasions. Furthermore, he has won 10 of these races, taking his points tally to 314 points so far. He currently sits atop the driver’s standings, with Perez taking the second spot. The difference between the two drivers is a staggering 125 points.
Perez, who supposedly drives the same car as Verstappen, has failed to keep up with the Dutchman. The difference in performance between the two was on show again at the Belgian GP. Verstappen, who took a penalty and qualified P6 for the main race, won the race by over 22 seconds as Perez took home the 2nd place trophy after qualifying P2.
Taking all these things into consideration, ‘The Flying Finn‘ doesn’t believe anyone will be able to match Verstappen. He elaborated on why the Red Bull Racing’s number one driver is so good.
Mika Hakkinen doesn’t think anyone can match Max Verstappen
Having won eight consecutive races in F1, Max Verstappen keeps extending his lead over other drivers. Former McLaren driver and World Champion Mika Hakkinen thinks it is difficult to say whether or not any driver can keep up with the 25-year-old’s car.
Mika Haikkinen on Max Verstappen’s dominance:
“When I was racing in Formula 1, when I was winning, and dominating in 1998 with my teammate, David Coulthard, I felt that the year was fantastic.”
“It was not boring, and I’m sure Max is experiencing the same thing. He is not… pic.twitter.com/YwhFlAdxvG
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) August 1, 2023
While in conversation with Motorsport.com, the Finnish legend talked about how each team makes tailor-made cars for their drivers and how other drivers might not be able to deliver winning performances in the same car.
“The car that Max drives is also tailor-made for him. The way he submits is designed according to his wishes. If you put a driver in the same car, they will have a different driving style. That might not work then. Maybe it wouldn’t work for Max either.”
Hakkinen also gave his example to further elaborate on his point. He said people often wondered what would have happened if he and Michael Schumacher raced for the same team. But, as he mentioned, each team designs their car for their primary driver. So, things might not have gone the way people think.
Verstappen driving toward some of the sport’s biggest milestones
Having already won 10 races this season, Verstappen is on course to break his own record of most wins in a season by a driver. The current record sits at 15, which he claimed just last season, and with 11 races still to go, it is a very real possibility that Verstappen will shatter his record with ease. Verstappen is also just one win away from equaling Sebastian Vettel’s all-time record of nine Grand Prix wins in a row.
Max Verstappen has now won an incredible eight races in a row.
He’s only one away from equalling Sebastian Vettel’s all-time record of nine 🏆 pic.twitter.com/tcXqYvoXWk
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 30, 2023
Additionally, Max Verstappen is also on track to winning the 2023 World Championship with multiple races to spare. If he seals his crown victory by the Qatar GP, Verstappen will equal Nigel Mansell’s record of winning the title with five races to spare.
