‘Unfair’ reason Max Verstappen can’t be considered the GOAT of Formula One

Max Verstappen is racking up the world titles, but there’s one harsh reason why he can’t be considered the greatest F1 driver of all time.

Where does Max Verstappen sit in the F1 GOAT debate?

Where does Max Verstappen sit among the greatest Formula One drivers ever?

Verstappen is only 26 years old and this week clinched this third world championship in a row to already put himself into the debate over who is the greatest F1 driver of all time.

But as is often the case in sport, it’s how you win that matters most. There will always be a cloud over his maiden title in 2021, and winning 19 out of 23 races this season had many fans turning off due to a lack of competition.

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“The only thing I suppose is negative — I imagine even he would have wanted people to race against,” commentator and former F1 driver Johnny Herbert told news.com.au.

“He wasn’t really racing against his teammate. He wasn’t really racing against anybody else. The only time he had a different race was when he started maybe about 10th on the grid and he still won.”

On paper, Verstappen has now equalled his father-in-law Nelson Piquet, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna with three world championships.

Schumacher, Hamilton, Prost, Senna and five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio undoubtedly sit a tier above Verstappen in the greatest of all time debate, while the Dutchman’s next task will be to equal and then surpass Sebastian Vettel’s four titles with Red Bull to become the team’s most successful driver.

Herbert believes Verstappen’s unwavering hunger to win already makes him one of the best the sport has ever seen, but in the eyes of some he may need to win with a second team to be considered the F1 GOAT.

Schumacher won titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995 before moving to Ferrari, and a baby-faced Hamilton won with McLaren in 2008 before his Mercedes dynasty in the 2010s.

Lewis Hamilton won with McLaren before moving to Mercedes. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan/FILE)

Michael Schumacher won with Benetton in 1995.

“He’s already a legend of the sport,” Herbert said of Verstappen in an interview provided by Genting Casino.

“When you win three world championships — when you win one world championship — you’re one of the legends of the sport.

“But the thing I always remember with the champions of the past — a lot of people said, ‘If you only win with one team you’ve only been able to do it there and you haven’t proved you’re able to go and do it somewhere else’.

“Which was like Michael for example, or Lewis as well. They proved they could actually move to another team and that signalled to certain people that they were one of the greats because they didn’t just do it with one car.

“I think that’s very unfair to be honest because there’s a hell of a lot of work that goes into making that work in that given team. Even if it’s one team or two teams, it doesn’t really matter.

“That’s the only thing people have said in the past — that they need to do it in another car to prove it, but I don’t think you do.

“It’s damn hard enough to do it in one season anyway, to win races. Not everybody on the grid today will win races. There will be even fewer that will win world championships down the line.”

Max Verstappen has won three world titles at the age of 26. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP)

So where does Verstappen sit among the F1 greats?

“Is he the best? That’s always a difficult one,” Herbert said. “He’s one of (the best) for sure.

“When you work as hard as Max has from a very young age and has that unbelievable desire, his motivation now is way ahead of what I remember even with Lewis.

“Lewis was stunning when he came in 2007 against Fernando Alonso. Max has a very different way about him.

“He’s very Michael-esque. He will do anything that he can to win a race. That’s a quite a special thing. It’s not something I’ve always agreed with in certain incidents that have happened in the past, but that’s his strategy.

“It’s working brilliantly for him, as it did for Michael, Lewis, Senna or Prost — they’re all different and they all achieve it in different ways.

“At the end of the day, it’s that wow factor, that speed, that ability to get the best out of yourself and the team — make that team work for you — and that’s what he’s always able to do. That’s what the greats do.

“He’s still working very hard. We hear it on the radio. He pushes the team, he pushes his engineer to the limit during the race at times, but that’s what you’ve got to do. That’s why he is a great of the sport.”

Can anyone beat Verstappen in 2024?

“Yes, he’s definitely beatable,” Herbert said.

“I think Charles (Leclerc) can. He’s definitely matured and come through that period where he was making mistakes. The Ferrari is on the right trajectory.

“We’ve seen him race Max wheel to wheel a lot and Max seems to respect Charles.

“Going into the second year of these new rules, everybody expected it was going to be quite a battle, but that battle hasn’t quite materialised yet.

Lewis Hamilton joining Red Bull would be one way to settle the F1 GOAT debate. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

“But the positive thing is, people are now just starting to challenge him and Red Bull — not everywhere, but they’re getting closer and that’s a good sign. He’s been unbelievable just because he does it every single time he gets in the car.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner recently claimed Hamilton’s camp approached Red Bull about a shock move to become Verstappen’s teammate.

Hamilton denied any such move and is contracted to Mercedes until 2025 but Horner poked the bear, noting the seven-time world champion hasn’t won a race since 2021.

“If it was anybody, what would be lovely is if it was Lewis actually,” Herbert said when asked who will be Verstappen’s teammate in 2025.

“That would be the one everybody would like to see. And Max doesn’t seem too bothered by it.

“I think Lewis can definitely still do it (win a world title).

“His race craft is just as good as it was. Some people might say he’s not quite competitive against George (Russell) as he used to be.

“The whole stars in the planetary system have to align for it to work for Mercedes.”

Originally published as ‘Unfair’ reason Max Verstappen can’t be considered the GOAT of Formula One