Verstappen Not Greatest Of All Time, But Can Match 'Schumacher's Titles'

Saturday, 16 November 2024 at 17:00

Former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve contradicted Jeremy Clarkson, who suggested that Max Verstappen is the best that we've ever seen.

Following the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where the Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen went from P17 to P1, Jeremy Clarkson wrote for The Sun that the Dutchman is the best that we've ever seen.

Reacting to this statement in an interview with Grosvenor Sport, 1997 Champion Jacques Villeneuve asserted that Verstappen cannot be called the greatest.

On the one hand, Villeneuve said that two of the 27-year-old's titles were great (assuming that he wins the 2024), but he also said that the other two were "easy ones."

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There have been quite a few incredible drivers in the history of Formula 1, such as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, or Juan Manuel Fangio, and the Canadian former F1 driver believes that they cannot be compared:

"You cannot compare the era of Fangio to now. They are different eras. So you cannot say any of them is the greatest of all time. The sport has changed too much."

While the triple World Champion cannot be compared to other drivers that were greatest in their era, Villeneuve believes he can match the record of seven titles first achieved by Schumacher (and matched by Lewis Hamilton in 2020).

"Max Verstappen definitely has what it takes to match Schumacher's titles. Max is still hungry and competitive and always goes for the win."

"He doesn't get brought down. With the right situation, he will always be there to win a championship. The same way that Alonso could have had seven championships. Look how often he got close with Ferrari."

Take Schumacher, he could have had three instead of seven. But he could have had even more. Sometimes it's close and there's a few drivers out there that don't have the amount of championships that they probably deserved with their talent."