Max Verstappen is becoming one of the greatest F1 drivers, not just of the current generation but of all time. Winning three world championships on the trot, he is well on course to break all records, perhaps even Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles. A part of the F1 community also feels that Verstappen shares a strong resemblance with Schumacher. Sky Sports analyst and F1 expert Karun Chandhok certainly thinks so.
In a column on Motorsport, Chandhok wrote about why Verstappen’s driving style is so similar to the German. The first thing Chandhok notes is Verstappen’s ability to control the car when entering a corner.
He gains the most amount of time in that area because he hits the apex at an optimal speed just like Schumacher did during his Benetton and Ferrari days. The Indian former driver also wrote,
“When Verstappen is at the apex, he can let go of the steering a little. If you compare the images of Verstappen and Sergio Perez, you will see that Verstappen has the steering wheel at a smaller angle at the apex than Perez.”
Max Verstappen:
️ “I remember a few holidays, I was quite small; I didn’t know he [Michael Schumacher] was a seven-times world champion. He was more like Uncle Michael. He was very nice, easygoing. Simple.” pic.twitter.com/c2sSp2ddez
— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) June 10, 2023
This is one of the things Chandhok feels makes him better than everyone else on the paddock. Even the best, like Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, find it incredibly difficult to get the better of Verstappen. In fact, his teammates, who drive the same car as him can’t get the better of him.
Teammates who unsuccessfully tried to topple Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen has had his fair share of teammates who have tried to topple him. Currently, Sergio Perez is struggling to match him, despite driving the same car. In fact, in 2023, Verstappen scored almost double the points Perez did on his way to winning the world championship.
Perez wasn’t the first, and most likely won’t be the last driver to fail at defeating Verstappen. In his very first year in F1, Carlos Sainz was his teammate at Toro Rosso and Verstappen finished the season ahead of him.
The very next campaign, he became teammates with Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull, and they were together until the 2018 season. Out of all his teammates, Ricciardo arguably gave him the best fight and even finished the 2016 and 2017 seasons in front of the Dutchman.
Thereafter, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and now Perez have joined Verstappen at Red Bull but out of them, no one has managed to get the better of the 26-year-old as of yet. If Perez’s performances continue to be as underwhelming as they were in 2022 and 2023, Red Bull may look for another teammate for Verstappen.
