“He Has a Warrior Spirit Like…” Lewis Hamilton’s Nemesis Jumps on the Max Verstappen Bandwagon to Compare Him To Two F1 Legends

After the dominant display Max Verstappen showcased in 2022, he earned praise from all corners of F1. Not only did he win two consecutive world championships, but also ended Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ dominant run. The Dutchman has now drawn comparisons with the sport’s greats by none other than one of Lewis Hamilton’s greatest rivals.

Max Verstappen did not have the best of starts to the 2022 season. Coming on the back of a championship win, he expected to hit the ground running right from the word go. However, as he DNF’d twice in the first three races, it looked like it was going to be a long season for him and the team. But what followed was one of the most fascinating shows of mastery behind the wheel.

Nico Rosberg left in awe of Max Verstappen

Even as Red Bull dealt with the car’s reliability and weight issues, Max Verstappen could not finish in the pole position on several occasions. However, most of the time, he made up for it with a superior racing performance on Sundays. On a couple of occasions, he squeezed out a win despite starting P10 and even P14.

Praising the Dutchman, Nico Rosberg told La Gazzetta dello Sport, “He has a warrior spirit like [Michael] Schumacher and [Ayrton] Senna had.” [Translated using Google]

“Verstappen makes it a bit difficult for his teammates,” Rosberg added. “In fact, no teammate can keep up with him.”

“I must admit that this year surprised me, because it started so badly. Ferrari was superior. Still, he has had a historic season, with fifteen victories.”

The former Mercedes champion continued, “In general, he often won with relatively few pole positions. Then he won regularly after a catch-up race. I’m sure he will become one of the greatest of all time.”

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Max won the title with 4 races to spare in the season. However, he did not stop there. In the next race in the US, he delivered the long-awaited constructors’ championship for his team, which they last had in 2013.

Nico Rosberg not the first to compare Max with Michael Schumacher

As the season progressed to the final race in Abu Dhabi, the threat from Mercedes became stronger. The Silver Arrows, after a tough season, secured a 1-2 finish in the penultimate race in Brazil. However, Max was determined as ever and won the race at the Yas Marina Circuit with ease.

Witnessing the Dutchman’s brilliance from the commentary box, Martin Brundle said, “In commentary, I described Max Verstappen’s drive as ‘Michael Schumacher-esque’ because it seemed however slow he was driving his car to preserve tyres he was still pulling away from the field.”

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Do you think it is fair to compare Max with the 7-time world champion? Or does he still have a long way to go to earn that praise?