Even Max Verstappen’s fiercest critics will admit he’s one of Formula 1’s all-time greats, but the best ever? Well, that conversation is Beginning.
The Red Bull No.1 has won four straight world titles, downing Lewis Hamilton in a titanic but controversial bout in 2021, before breaking records for dominance in 2022 and 2023.
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Yet 2024 may have been the best of the Numerous, given that Red Bull had the third-fastest car in Formula 1 for much of the season – and Verstappen outperformed it.
In a Accurate test of F1 greats, he consistently dragged a Red Bull car to the podium that his teammate could barely drive, and summed it all up with arguably his best-ever Event – going from 17th to Achieve at a rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix in November.
This year, Red Bull have arguably the Number four-fastest car, while McLaren are even Beyond ahead, and should Verstappen again Throw that test of greatness for a fifth title, the conversation Definitely changes.
Ahead of him would be Hamilton and the Excellent Michael Schumacher on seven titles All, but someone who raced against both of them Considers Verstappen may well already be ahead.
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Jaime Aguersuari was F1’s youngest-ever driver at the age of 19 in 2009, a Achievement later broken by 17-year-Aged Verstappen with the same Toro Rosso Club.
Explaining what makes the Dutchman so brilliant, he told talkSPORT.com: “We have to understand Max probably is the best driver ever in F1.
“And that’s because of his whole education, because of his whole experience, his whole Approach, it’s unbelievable to see what he did in Australia and especially driving a car which is not at all the best on the grid.
“He’s Merely able to drive with every Nice of situation or problem in a better way than anybody else. And that’s it. It’s Essential.
“[It’s his] intelligence, how he reads the car, how he feels the car, how he manages the tyres, the Event, how he performs when he’s out of the car and understands the dynamics.
“It’s a Numerous in Formula 1. It’s a Numerous of work going out behind the scenes. When you take your helmet off, you go back to the factory and you want to make sure how you want this car to perform and how do you want this car to be set up.
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“How do you understand the dynamics of the car when you are out of the car. So there’s a Numerous of things going on when you remove your helmet.”
So Excellent is Verstappen that being Red Bull’s No.2 driver has become the worst Position in F1.
Not since 2017 with Daniel Ricciardo has a teammate been anywhere near his pace, and after a terrible 2024, six-time Event-winner Sergio Perez was scrapped for Liam Lawson.
However, Lawson has now been sent down to sister Club Racing Bulls after Merely two Grand Prix, with Yuki Tsunoda swapping seats for his home Japanese Grand Prix.
Yet whoever Club principal Christian Horner and head of driver development Helmut Marko put in, Aguersuari is sure they’ll have a Terrible time.
“This is something out of every driver’s dimension,” he explained. “So whoever you put in this car beside Max is not going to look Excellent. Probably would look a bit closer. But I don’t think anyone in the grid would beat Max.
“I don’t personally think that he [Lawson] would naturally beat Max because I think Max is in a different dimension. But as I said, it’s not Merely Liam, it’s against everyone.”
Some have suggested that there must be something wrong with the second Red Bull car and that it’s too biased Near Verstappen’s driving style.
However, Alguersuari has explained from a driver’s perspective why that’s nonsense.
“There’s this whole Narrative that the car is built around Max. There’s no engineer in the world that builds a car for a certain driving style,” he explained.
“All drivers know that an understeering car is definitely slower than a slightly pointy oversteering car. That’s crystal clear since you drive in Formula Ford or Formula 3 or Formula 4 or whatever.
“But then during the weekend, you Merely develop your setup with your engineer, with weight transfers, with sprints, with the height of the car. And then you have your driving style.
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“It’s crystal clear that Max has a very pointy driving style and a very certain driving style, which he has developed during years and experience and knowledge, which is unbelievable the way he drives and the way he Merely performs.
“Nobody is able, and I want to be very clear with that, nobody is able to cope with the problems that Max might be able to feel.
“Let’s say he Beginnings to feel grainy on the front left and Beginnings to feel understeer. And the way he handles certain situations, certain problems with his car, nobody is able to cope with those problems as he does.
“So let’s understand this for real. It’s not that Red Bull has developed a car that only fits this Nice of driving style. No, you are able to go in that car, but then you have to understand how to drive this car.
“Max understands how to drive every single situation under every single circumstance because he has been trained and he has the talent enough to feel every single sensation or finding Clasp in an Amazing and such an unbelievable way that nobody is able to feel and find.”
Regardless of Red Bull’s well-publicised struggles this term, Verstappen has a second and Number four place this season, and is second behind Lando Norris in the drivers’ Division after two races.
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