Earlier this year at the Japanese GP, Max Verstappen clinched his second consecutive World Championship. At the age of 25, he is a two-time Champion with 34 race wins to his name and is showing no signs of slowing down. Everyone in the F1 community agrees that Verstappen is well on his way to establishing himself as an all-time great.
The Red Bull driver won his 14th race of the season at the Mexico City GP two weeks ago. With his win, he broke Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher’s record of winning 13 races in a calendar year. However, his incredible consistency which got him to win in Mexico earned him even more plaudits.
Verstappen pitted for medium compound tires on the 25th lap at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. From lap number 27 to lap number 70, the Dutch driver maintained lap times that were staggeringly consistent. All his laps were in the 1 minute 22-second range except for the two laps that were under Virtual Safety Car conditions.
It’s a statistic that shows just how difficult it is to match Verstappen’s level at the moment. Sky Sports analyst Karun Chandhok did not hold back while comparing the 25-year-old to seven-time World Champion Schumacher.
Max Verstappen uses his intelligence to manage a race
Verstappen entered F1 at the young age of 17 and has become one of the most experienced despite being just 25 years old. At the moment, he is the most in-form driver in F1 and seems unstoppable. He has also made very few mistakes this season, which has allowed him to clinch the Title with relative ease.
Chandhok took to his Twitter account after the Mexico City GP to highlight comparisons between Verstappen and Schumacher. He feels that Verstappen is very similar to the Ferrari legend when the latter was at his peak.
“This metronomic consistency is another illustration of the way they use their intelligence & feel to manage a race,” the former F1 driver said.
Verstappen has already won 14 races this year to have his name etched in the history books. However, he can add on that by winning the Sao Paolo and Abu Dhabi GP, which will make this the most dominant season by a driver in history (behind Alberto Ascari).
