Max Verstappen’s recent dominance in F1 has resulted in many such as Lewis Hamilton and others raising concerns about fans’ interest in the sport. Their argument revolves around the sport lacking excitement and entertainment ever since Verstappen started obliterating the field with Red Bull. Despite the criticism, Verstappen compared his dominant run with that of NBA legend, Michael Jordan, and his time with the Chicago Bulls.
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Time quoted the Dutchman in a feature as saying, “The NBA survived when the Chicago Bulls were dominating. At the time, or even afterwards, people are like, ‘Oh, that was amazing.’ If you are a real fan of the sport, you should be able to appreciate a team doing very well.”
While the three-time champion may cite Jordan as a response to people calling his domination out, the comparison is not the best due to one simple reason. While Verstappen has wiped out the competition this season, Jordan’s Bulls were famous for their hard-fought and oftentimes narrow margins of victory.
Hence, even though the Chicago Bulls were the clear favorites, there was still a quantum of excitement embedded in their matchups. Contrastingly, with Verstappen, every race weekend this year has become a foregone conclusion that the Dutchman will win even before a single lap has even been completed.
Max Verstappen emulated Michael Jordan as a result of his own triumphant F1 career
Max Verstappen shares several commonalities with Michael Jordan. For instance, the duo share the distinct honor of having a trailblazing rookie season and an exponential advantage in terms of athletic ability, determination, and drive over their respective rivals.
While reflecting on Jordan’s critically acclaimed documentary on Netflix ‘The Last Dance‘, Verstappen revealed, “I did like the spirit of Michael Jordan, how he was pushing it, how he was driven to win.”
However, Verstappen does admit that certain embellishments hyping the legend were a part and parcel of the experience. “Of course, not everything about that is 100 percent true, because it’s a documentary and some things for sure are a bit hyped up,” added the Dutch lion.
Despite the disclaimer, Verstappen’s view of Jordan is something that resonates with him. As Verstappen explained, that undying thirst for success is something that the 26-year-old also incorporates in his F1 career.
