Magnussen Discusses 'Crazy' Thing That Separates Verstappen From Hamilton And Others

Thursday, 23 January 2025 at 19:00

Former Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen shared why he thinks Max Verstappen is "getting near the all-time great" status.

2024 turned out to be a much tougher season for Red Bull than Max Verstappen would like. However, despite not having the fastest car for a significant part of the year, the Dutchman still won the title with quite a comfortable lead.

Winning the fourth title means the Verstappen became the sixth member of a very exclusive club of F1 drivers who achieved four or more titles - Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost, and Sebastian Vettel.

All of the drivers within this club are considered all-time greats for various reasons. As the Dutchman is still pretty young, there isn't as much talk about him being one of all-time F1 greats, but Kevin Magnussen believes he must be getting near that status if he's not already there. He told Racingnews365:

"To me, he must be getting near the all-time great [status]. I think if you look at his level, I think his top level is maybe not that much better than anyone like Lewis [Hamilton] or, anyone."

Read also

2024 Was Verstappen's 'Best' Season According To Albon

Although the former Haas F1 driver believes many people can match Verstappen's speed on a few occasions, he points out that the magic is in being able to do it consistently, every time, again and again.

"I think they can reach that sort of level too, I think quite a lot of people can. But he does it every lap of every single race weekend he does."

"That is the crazy thing about him, how he's just always on it, he has his best day every day. So it's kind of that what sets him apart."

The four-time world champion hasn't finished worse than P6 in 2024, which is something that no other driver can say. Magnussen thinks that Verstappen is like a machine.