Is Max Verstappen the Most Dedicated F1 Driver in History?
Dec.7 - Gerhard Berger is more and more convinced that Max Verstappen is the "world's best racing driver of all time".
It's a big call from the former F1 driver especially as he was once teammate to the great Ayrton Senna at McLaren.
But he told Kronen Zeitung newspaper that "never in my life" has he seen a driver dominate in the way Red Bull's Verstappen did in 2023 - with 19 wins out of 22 grands prix.
"Max is a racing driver who always gives 120 percent," said the Austrian. "Just like Senna or Schumacher used to, or Hamilton does now.
"But I'm sure Max is back in the simulator and playing with all his racing cars again already."
But is Verstappen the most dedicated driver the sport has ever seen?
"For sure," Berger, 64, answered. "He simply lives with every fibre of his body for his sport - for Formula 1. That is his passion. For me, he is the world's best racing driver of all time."
For Berger, the most impressive part of Verstappen's third consecutive drivers' crown this year was not his 21 podiums out of a possible 22 - but his 100 percent driving record.
"That's exactly what has become the biggest handicap for Helmut Marko," Berger smiled. "Because Max doesn't need him. With zero errors, Helmut simply has nothing to criticise."
Sergio Pérez's performance in the sister car therefore stands out in stark contrast.
"Yes," Berger agrees. "If you lump Max and Perez together, then on average Helmut has something to do again.
"Just looking at Leclerc's overtaking of Perez on the last lap in Las Vegas, I have to say that not even a beginner makes such a mistake," he added.
Speaking of Marko, Red Bull's top consultant told the same newspaper mere days ago that he expects Red Bull to face a much tougher challenge to stay on top in 2024.
"Such statements are typical," Berger insists. "Helmut is just trying to take some pressure out of the boiler. Personally, I see black again for all of Red Bull's competition next year."
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton would seem to agree with that, as he recently cast doubt on any team's ability to close such a huge performance gap over a single winter.
"That's just the language of Formula 1," Berger explains, "so that he can start the new year with less pressure.
"But although I do see Red Bull as the clear favourite, Formula 1 is always good for a surprise. Something can always happen," he added. "In any case, I'm really looking forward to 2024."
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Making definitive conclusions between drivers from different eras is difficult.
Jere, I know that you like the middle ground, but he word is not 'difficult'...it is 'impossible'. Any matrix can be met with a competing matrix.
BS, the all-time top 10 of this website shows Verstappen is only 9th best: https://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-drivers/top-10-best-f1-drivers-of-all-time/
Read the conclusion from Sheffild University in England on the best driver above all
Juan Manuel Fangio tops the charts hands down
Thanks but I roughter think myself. One thing comes to mind about Fangio's performance. I do think the competition in the Fangio days was probably a lot worse then today. Only very rich kids could race cars. So for Fangio it must have been he was competing a bounch of Latifi's of today.
Your knowledge of drivers during that period is sadly lacking
There are a long list of superb drivers at that time who pushed Fangio to excel the way he did
More research required. Latifi's, I don't think so
Not yet these statements are always recency bias because we saw Vettel and Hamilton dominating and they were also getting called at the time the best ever for me Senna and Schumacher are the goat but Verstappen could be 1 day
Matthew, ever hear the names Fangio or Clark? I'm just sayin'.
Yes of course i'm comparing what the media said recently when Seb was dominating they said baby schumi when Hamilton was dominating they were saying he's the best ever so when a driver like Max dominate they say pretty much same thing
senna best but max could be there some day!
Verstappen has had an utterly dominant car for the last three seasons. It will take a couple of seasons with cars comparable to the Red Bull in performance before we see how good a racer Versappen really is.
Utterly dominant only last season.
Gentlemen...
The thing about Max is that he beat everybody wherever he went and before he ever got a road driver's licence.
Unlike his more immediate current competition, he never sat in a F2 car and contnues to beat those who paid their dues there.
So of course there will be a hoard of naysayers to diminish his accomplishements, to point out that he certainly has THE BEST CAR around, the same car that a pretty good racer can't do much with, while overcoming everyone even from poor starting positions.
Yes, yes, this guy Mad Max will never really amount to anything in F1...
Yes, yes....
yeah but according to Herr Wolff, they are the best team with the best drivers , so you can see why some people are easily confused.
I've heard that Herr Wolff once said Fred Flintstone was the best driver he ever saw... But don't repeat that, people will start comparing him to Fangio.
The short answer to "IS MAX VERSTAPPEN THE MOST DEDICATED F1 DRIVER IN HISTORY?" is NO!
Being dedicated and being a phenominal driver are two different matters. I would argue that Ayrton Senna takes the mantle as most dedicated, because of his time spent with engineers to understand the car and the time he spent promoting Formula 1.
I see black for Mercedes 😁