Sky Sports F1 expert Karun Chandhok believes that Max Verstappen should already be considered as one of the top 10 drivers in the sport’s history, and suggested that the Dutchman does not get a fair judgement of his abilities.
The Red Bull star has kicked off this campaign in the same fashion as he finished the 2022 season; as a winner.
Indeed, he dominated the curtain-raising Bahrain Grand Prix earlier this month as he led a Red Bull one-two over the line and already many are tipping him as a strong favourite to win a third title this year, as well as being set to add a host of Grand Prix victories to his swelling tally.
He’s already inside the top ten for most race wins in the history of the sport and Chandhok believes he should be considered as one of the best we’ve ever seen in F1:
“I think it’s unfair to try and rank a driver in a list of all-time greats when they’re still currently driving but I mean, in terms of outright talented drivers to have driven a Formula One car, I think he’s in the Clark, Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton category,” said Chandhok exclusively to GIVEMESPORT.
“It’s very hard to say where they rank among the all-time greats, because then you have to define a sign of greatness. You could argue Gilles Villeneuve was one of the most talented drivers ever. Did he manage his career in the best way? Did he manage his overall being as a racing driver as well as Niki Lauda? He didn’t. And that’s why he didn’t win three World Championships whereas Niki did, but Niki wasn’t as fast. So there are so many complexities to that sort of ranking.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Max is certainly one of the top 10 most talented though.”
Expanding on Verstappen’s raw and natural skill driving a racing car, Chandhok recalled some of his earliest memories of seeing the Dutchman at the wheel:
“I don’t think he’s getting a fair judgement of his talent and abilities. I saw Max first in Formula 3. I remember watching him at a track. All these guys went out of the pit lane and you can see everyone building up and getting quicker and quicker. And then there’s one car that came through on this first flying lap, and he must have been going 15/20 kph faster than anybody else. And you just go like, ‘holy s*** what is happening there? How is this guy holding on?’ It was quite amazing.
“I remember at Barcelona [he was] in the Toro Rosso for preseason testing. I went to watch at turn four and every lap he turned in the back of the car had this like pendulum effect. But he just got on throttle and drove out of it. I was thinking ‘there’s no way he can do that every lap, it’s impossible.’ But he did, I watched him for three days at Barcelona testing at different corners and every lap he did the same thing, he had this amazing car control and confidence, which was just extraordinary. I remember seeing that with Lewis for the first time you know – they’re so good.
“I went back to the pits to speak to Jody Egginton, who is now the Technical Director at AlphaTauri. I think he was Chief Race Engineer and I said ‘surely this guy is destroying his tyres driving that way.’ But his tyres were better than [then team-mate] Carlos [Sainz’s.] His feel of the tyre and the car control, it’s that sort of stuff which I think people don’t realise just how talented and how good he is.”
Verstappen aims to make it two race wins from two this weekend at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
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