The 2024 world championship was certainly the best of Max Verstappen’s four titles, given the amount of adversity he faced this season. Despite having a troubled car and a winless streak of 10 races, he held on to his points lead in the drivers’ standings till the very end. Former F1 driver Timo Glock feels that Verstappen’s performances this year earned him a place among the greats of the sport.
Per SpeedWeek.com, Glock discussed the Dutchman’s fourth title triumph with fellow German former driver Ralf Schumacher. The former Toyota driver praised Verstappen’s management of his slump in 2024 — a period where McLaren were the class of the field, way ahead of Red Bull.
From Bahrain to Vegas – here’s how Max Verstappen stacked up the points to secure another world championship #F1 pic.twitter.com/Bhp49YYFhj
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 25, 2024
In such a phase, the defending world champion did not lose his resolve and maximized his results in qualifying and the races even though he wasn’t winning any. “When you consider what happened in the middle of the season, that his car was no longer at the top in terms of performance and McLaren started to dominate, then he took the title home very cleverly,” the German added.
Glock felt very impressed with how Verstappen often used to figure out a way with his engineers to qualify at the front of the field. This naturally helped him limit the damage to his championship lead.
The German highlighted the Mexican GP as a race where Verstappen qualifying on the front row helped his cause with the championship battle against Lando Norris. Despite his controversial coming together with the Briton, the Red Bull driver ensured that he did not lose too many points in the drivers’ standings.
And, of course, Brazil was a race that Glock felt highlighted Verstappen’s “incredible talent”. While the race in Sao Paulo helped Verstappen secure the fourth title, it also underscored why everyone deems him one of the very best to race in F1.
Schumacher feels Verstappen is better than Lewis Hamilton
Glock named the Dutchman as one of the greats of F1, but he was calculated in his assessment. Schumacher, on the other hand, went a step ahead to compare Verstappen with other multiple world champions.
Naturally, one direct comparison everyone made after the 27-year-old’s title triumph in Las Vegas was with Sebastian Vettel as he matched the German driver’s tally of four consecutive titles. However, Schumacher believes Verstappen is a level above both Vettel and Hamilton.
The former Williams driver stated that the likes of Vettel and Hamilton need the right car and environment to win races and championships. Verstappen, on the other hand, has the ability to eke out strong results even in weaker cars, per Ralf.
If there is any merit to this statement, then I say Ralph Schumacher is a racist and an outright hater whose implicit biases are on full display for the world to see.
By any measure, this is among the dumbest statements anyone remotely associated with Formula One can make.#F1 pic.twitter.com/o3CBewhMkG
— The Rainmaker (@WheelsandSticks) December 24, 2024
“I have to be honest and say that I don’t count Lewis Hamilton among them. He is also an exceptional talent, but he is a bit like Sebastian Vettel. He always needs the perfect environment and the right car,” Schumacher said. Naturally, Hamilton fans weren’t happy with these comments from Schumacher and have started a debate on social media.
