'Can't Say Red Bull Cannot Be Beaten, Verstappen Is Unbeatable' Says Villeneuve

Sunday, 15 October 2023 at 16:00

1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve shared his opinion of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.

Red Bull Racing is having one of its most successful seasons ever. The Austrian team has already secured the Drivers' as well as Constructors' Championship.

Credits for this achievement go to the whole team, which has done an incredible job building the car, choosing strategies, and many other things. However, there might be no Championship victory this season without Max Verstappen.

The Flying Dutchman has been dominant throughout the season breaking multiple records like achieving the most consecutive wins in a season (10) which he took from Sebastian Vettel (9).

The dominance of the three-time World Champion is not only evident in the time margin by which he wins race by race but also in the point difference between him and his teammate Sergio Perez.

Max Verstappen leads Perez by more than 200 pints. Nico Rosberg said the gap between Red Bull drivers is "extreme." Many F1 fans attribute this gap to Perez "being too slow."

On the other hand, we have seen in the past that the Mexican is an incredible driver with top-of-the-class racing skills during performances like the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, where Perez went from last to first.

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Another option for the immense gap might be that Max Verstappen is in a class of his own, miles ahead of everybody else on the grid, and Perez can't keep up with his pace. Jacques Villeneuve seems to be of a similar opinion as he told Gazzetta dello Sport:

"Max Verstappen is unbeatable. You cannot say that Red Bull cannot be beaten. Verstappen is the unbeatable."

Villeneuve attributes the strength of the three-time World Champion to a tough upbringing facilitated by his father, Jos Verstappen. The Canadian claims his father made Verstappen champion.

"His strength is that he was never a child. He was already an adult when he was young. He was made a champion by a father who was very hard on him. That means Max doesn't have a weak spot."

While it might seem like Verstappen already achieved everything he needed to accomplish this season, there is still a record for the most team wins in a single season, which Mercedes currently holds. Verstappen will get back into the cockpit next week at COTA.