by VALERIO BARRETTA
Verstappen, what praise from Jordan
The latest performances of Red Bull, no longer as dominant as in 2023, raise a question: how much Max’s class has and still weighs Verstappen in the golden cycle of Milton Keynes? In fact, the Dutchman does not have a superior vehicle from Miami (this is demonstrated by the performances of McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes in turn) and yet he managed to win both in Imola and in Montreal. According to Eddie Jordan, the last few Sundays demonstrate that we are faced with the greatest driver of the last decades: even stronger than Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.
Verstappen’s words
“In 1982 I was lucky enough to find a guy named Da Silva. I gave him his first lap at Silverstone in an F3 car. Then with Dick Bennetts, Martin Brundle and Roberto Guerrero we went to Macau in 1983 and this guy, Da Silva, won the race. Then he changed his name to Senna“Jordan recalled on his podcast Formula for Success.
“So yes, I had Senna in the car. Yes, I also had Michael Schumacher in the car, but I honestly believe with all my heart that if you could have Senna, Schumacher and Max in the same cars in the same race at any given time, I think Max would prevail. I really think Max would have the edge because I think he’s so good“.
The numbers
With the extension of the Formula 1 seasons compared to the Eighties and Nineties (when 16 or 17 GPs were run per year) it is clear that Verstappen has a great advantage over the sacred monsters of the past in the absolute comparison of numbers and that over time he will reach at least Schumacher’s 91 successes (he is now at 60). It’s impossible not to mention the increase in reliability and the presence of cars that offer more help to the driver. However, they are advantages that everyone has – therefore even Verstappen’s opponents – while the monstrous percentage of GPs won on courses speaks for the Dutchman: 30.93%, better than that of Lewis Hamilton and lower only than those of Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari and Jim Clark among the world champions.
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