Is 2-time F1 champion Max Verstappen an all-time great?

Max Verstappen is now a 2-time world champion. He wrapped up the title with a win in the 2022 F1 Japanese GP. Now, there are going to be a few alarm bells ringing in the Red Bull camp when it comes to the cost cap breach, but expecting Verstappen to lose the title would be an extreme step.

More or less, whatever sanctions will be made, they will be against Red Bull and it’s highly likely that Max Verstappen is not going to lose any of these two titles. More importantly, while allegations could be thrown at Red Bull for the cost cap breach or noise could be made about what happened in Abu Dhabi last season, one thing that cannot be denied is the brilliance of Max Verstappen.

World Champion 2022!!!

We’ve been absolutely on it, the whole year. A season where we had a difficult start but kept it cool, bounced back and never let go.

World Champion 2022!!! We’ve been absolutely on it, the whole year. A season where we had a difficult start but kept it cool, bounced back and never let go. https://t.co/lRX9mj1siw

Keeping all the noise to one side, one thing that has slowly but steadily become clear ever since Verstappen got a competitive car that he is the real deal. Not only that, he is the best driver on the grid at the moment. Regardless of which way the title battle swing last season, Max Verstappen was pretty much the consensus best driver.

Even though Red Bull have put together a dominant package, there’s no denying the talent of the Dutch driver. So much so that when Max became a two-time world champion and joined an elite group of names, there were a few pundits who made a bold claim that Verstappen was now an all-time great!

First of all, it’s astounding to hear someone state such a thing for a driver that has just turned 25. Having said that, two world championships and 32 race wins are strong arguments in that debate. So, is Max Verstappen already an all-time great? Let’s try and settle this debate.

Is Max Verstappen already an all-time great?

experience

One of the more deceptive things about Max Verstappen’s career is that his F1 experience belies his age. The Red Bull driver just recently turned 25, but he’s been racing in Formula 1 for almost a decade now (8 years). The Red Bull driver already has as many as 159 starts in the sport. When we talk about F1 legends like Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton, these drivers have raced in the sport for close to two decades (for Michael and Fernando).

But as you start to go lower and go through other names, the careers spanned closer to a decade. Other multiple world champions like Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, ​​Ayrton Senna, and Nelson Piquet had careers that were around a decade long give or take. Even at this stage of his career, while Max Verstappen is not a 4-time world champion like Alain Prost or a 3-time world champion like Niki Lauda, ​​Ayrton Senna, or Nelson Piquet, he stacks up well against some of the all- time greats.

credentials

Another thing that needs to be kept in mind while talking about Verstappen is the fact that he’s not all of a sudden jumped to the top. This has been a consistent upward trajectory that has been in motion since he made his debut in 2015. The driver did not all of a sudden become a championship contender last season. He has put in the work as well in all these years.

If we take a look at the championship standings from the time Max Verstappen stepped up to Red Bull in 2016, it’s been a trajectory of growth. He finished 5th in 2016, 6th in 2017, 4th in 2018, 3rd in 2019, 3rd in 2020, and then finally won the titles in 2021 and 2022.

The Red Bull driver was chomping at the bits for many years and when he got the opportunity, he claimed the title. In terms of credentials, he has two titles to his name, two P3s, and a P4 finish. This is a driver who has been a perennial frontrunner for close to a decade in F1, and when we talk about F1 greats, this is one key tenet we look at.

In terms of credentials, arguably the biggest one has to be the fact that Max Verstappen went toe-to-toe with one of the greatest talents ever in F1 (Lewis Hamilton) in similar machinery and beat him. Max has already achieved more at just 25 years of age than many other drivers.

records

One of the key accomplishments of an F1 driver is what he has been able to achieve in his career. For Max Verstappen, what stands out is the fact that he was a precocious talent who was thrown into the limelight as a teenager. What he ready to race in F1? He showed that he was ready in his rookie year as he outscored a much more experienced Carlos Sainz in the same car.

Almost eight years since his debut with Scuderia Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen has collected a bunch of accolades and by the time the season is over, he might have picked up a few more. In terms of records, Max Verstappen has quite a few milestones that he was the ‘youngest’ to. He’s the youngest to start a race, the youngest to score points, the youngest to win a race, the youngest to score a podium, the youngest to set the fastest lap in a race, and the youngest to score a grand slam in a race .

To add to that, Verstappen has the most podiums in a season (18 podiums, a feat he reached last season). This season, he’s the favorite to beat the record for most wins in a season as he stands at 12 wins with 4 races left (the record is 13 race wins by Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher).

In terms of accomplishments, some of these records will not be beaten anytime soon, and if we talk about ‘all-time F1 greats’, this is one of the key characteristics that we look at.

Conclusion

Finally, if we take a look at Max Verstappen’s career so far. The Red Bull driver is already a 2-time world champion, which makes him one of the 17 multiple world champions in the history of the sport. He already has 32 race wins that places him 6th on the all-time list. He’s the undisputed best driver on the grid and has the experience of racing in the sport for close to a decade. When you have a driver ticking so many boxes, it almost sounds unfair to not consider him an all-time great.

Two World Championships in a row for Max Verstappen, this season was inevitable, nobody could compete with him this season. He has been outstanding, so dominant, winning 12 races is a phenomenal achievement now just 1 win from the record. Nobody can argue he’s deserved it.

Two World Championships in a row for Max Verstappen, this season was inevitable, nobody could compete with him this season. He has been outstanding, so dominant, winning 12 races is a phenomenal achievement now just 1 win from the record. Nobody can argue he’s deserved it.

Having said that, we cannot deny that the goal posts have moved in the new generation. The all-time greats of this generation have a career that spans around 15 years or more (Hamilton, Vettel, and Alonso). Compare that to the 8 years that Verstappen has put together, then the numbers don’t sound as impressive. Lewis Hamilton has more than 300 race starts in F1, compare that to the 159 races that Verstappen has, it’s a much smaller number.

To sum it up, is Max Verstappen destined to be an all-time great? Hey is! Looking at his resume, he could even become the greatest to ever do it. But he’s not an all-time great right now. A key factor that goes against him is experience. Verstappen needs to accrue more of it before his name can be brought up in the ‘all-time great’ conversation.

What’s your favorite race of the 2022 season so far? Tell us in the comments below..

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