Some say that Max Verstappen is already the best driver in the history of F1, and no one has arguments to contradict them

Who is the best driver in the history of Formula 1? It is the eternal question that will never have an answer, but now has one more contender. Max Verstappen won his fourth championship title in Las Vegasand some claim that he is already the best driver in the history of Formula 1.

As much as it may seem like a shocking or hasty statement, the truth is that no one has serious arguments to contradict it. Quite the opposite. Beyond fake numbers, whether totals or percentages, Verstappen has a good handful of reasons to establish himself as the best of all time.

Verstappen, on the verge of winning two drivers’ world championships without his team winning constructors’ titles

Verstappen won his fourth Formula 1 world championship in Las Vegas, which equals him with Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prostand he also did it consecutively, something that only Vettel himself, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manual Fangio and Michael Schumacher had achieved before. Names that make it inevitable to talk about Verstappen as one of the best in history.

Some Verstappen fans claim that his winning percentage is slightly higher than those of Hamilton and Schumacher to place him as the greatest. The Dutchman has won 29.95% of the races he has runby 29.66% of Hamilton and 29.64% of Schumacher. Behind, Fangio’s 47.06% continues to mark territory.

But it is not the numbers, neither totals nor percentages, that most defend Verstappen. It is the story. For example, that Verstappen is about to become the second rider in history to win two drivers’ world championships without his team winning the constructors’ championship. Curiously, the only one who has done so so far is Nelson Piquet, his father-in-law.

Red Bull already lost constructors in 2021, the year in which Verstappen blew up Mercedes’ hybrid empire. That is still his best year, and he will hardly surpass it, but 2024 is very close on the scale of merit. “In most races I haven’t had the best car,” said Verstappen in Las Vegas.

Then, with the highest euphoria, he added that “with a McLaren I would have won even sooner”. And Red Bull started the season sweeping with some tricks that are now forgotten, but from Silverstone onwards its performance plummeted, leaving an anarchic world championship in which Verstappen has been able to tame the herd.

And you, do you think that Verstappen has already surpassed Schumacher, Hamilton, Fangio or Ayrton Senna as the best driver in the history of Formula 1?