Many fans believe that Max Verstappen winning successive championships has brought the old glory days back to Milton Keynes. There have been comparisons in the dominance the Dutchman has shown with what Sebastian Vettel did for 4 years. Yet, Vettel questioned his ability to do things that the current Red Bull champion can do.

Verstappen and Vettel recently appeared together on the Austrian channel for an interview. The 4-time champion expressed his thoughts on how Max has evolved from his early days in F1 to become an elite champion driver.

In this interview on the show Sport and Talk from Hangar-7 on Servus TV, Vettel said, “I don’t know if I could do what he [Max Verstappen] does. For example, the maneuvers, overtaking, and [the things he does] in certain track conditions.” [translated via Google]

“He has incredible sensitivity for the car, incredible control, and can understand situations extremely quickly.”

Vettel has several tussles with Max during their 7 years together on the grid. Seb often had been annoyed with some of Verstappen’s moves on track during their battles.

Although the German driver was impressed to see the evolution the 25-year-old has had since his early days. The 4-time champion was amazed to see Max’s control and feel for the car, hoping that his success streak carries on for while.

Read More: F1 Antagonist Role Sees Max Verstappen in the Same Boat as Champions Michael Schumacher & Sebastian Vettel

There have been similarities between Vettel and Verstappen’s first 2 championships. While one was a heist, denying an established dominant champion driver, the other was a complete sweep the following year.

Retracing the similarities between Red Bull Champions Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel’s Titles

If we keep the 2010 and 2021 championships on a balance scale, they might weigh up equally in terms of excitement. Though 2010 had 4-5 drivers competing instead of 2, 2021 compensated it well with the spice of Lewis Hamilton’s tussles with Max Verstappen.

But, looking closely at Vettel and Verstappen, both had to work hard in both their maiden title wins. Sebastian never led the championship back in 2010 before the final race in Abu Dhabi. He was always chasing Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, and the McLaren duo of Hamilton and Jenson Button the entire year.

Yet, Vettel held on to pull off the title win from Alonso and Webber’s grasp miraculously. At Yas Marina, luck favored the German to somehow crown him the youngest world champion. Eventually, his grit and determination got the reward.

Coming to Verstappen in 2021, he was right on Lewis Hamilton’s gearbox from race #1. Yet, it took him 4 races to snatch the championship lead for the first time in his career. And again he suffered bad luck again and again during the year, be it in Baku, Silverstone, or Budapest.

Nonetheless, when it mattered, Max and Red Bull took the risk at Yas Marina in dramatic circumstances to pull off the impossible. Beating the 7-time champion Hamilton was not an easy feat. Still, the Dutchman accomplished the job.

Watch This Story: Sebastian Vettel’s championship seasons

The 2011 and 2022 titles were both sweeps for both Red Bull champions. As they say, the first championship is always special. So far it has been a similar journey for Max as Seb had. What do you think? Will this parallel between Vettel and Verstappen continue in 2023 and beyond?