Max Verstappen, the heir-apparent to the top of the F1 food chain, is arguably aggressive when he drives. He is as fierce a competitor as fierce gets. The Flying Dutchman has gotten off to a flying start and is on course to win his second World Championship.

Max has scored 335 points this season while his partner, Sergio Perez, with 210 points, sits in 3rd position on the driver’s standings. While Perez is a seasoned driver and brings a lot to the table through his years of experience, it wasn’t always that way for Max.

Max was partnered with Alex Albon from 2019 to 2020. Subsequently, he was made the reserve driver, creating space for the incoming Checo Perez. Albon believes he learned a lot from his teammate during their short stint together and speaks glowingly about the Dutchman.

Albon was asked on a podcast, “How do highly do you rate him [Verstappen] as a driver now, not as he was but as he is now?”. Albon complimented, “I’d say he’s very much the most gifted driver I’ve ever raced against.”

He goes on to say, “His driving isn’t talking. There’s no politics in how he talks or how he speaks; he’s very straight to the point. He’s very relaxed. People really don’t see this side to him, people really don’t know this side to him, but yeah you know I’ve been with him. He can be so relaxed, I wish I could be like that.”

“The guy’s opening FIFA packs before qualifying. He’s very impressive.”

“What he wants in a car is very different to what other drivers want. That’s probably the secret to his speed, I think,” said Albon.

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Verstappen is at the top of his game, and Albon’s words on his way of approaching a race weekend is probably the biggest indicator of that. In a very short span, he has put his name up for consideration among the GOATs of the sport.

Max Verstappen compared to other greats

A comparison of Max with the other big name currently racing, like Lewis Hamilton, throws some light on the debate.

Hamilton has 4735.5 points while Verstappen has 1911.5. Lewis has 103 wins and 188 podiums while Max has won 31 and has 73 podiums. The Briton also takes the upper hand for the one stat that matters the most – World Championships.

He has won 7 world titles while Max has just one. The second one looks on the way, but things are never over until they are over in F1.

While these stats are a useful way to look at the two drivers, sports are never just about stats. More than that, Max is young and has a lot of years ahead of him to catch up to Lewis, or any other legend.

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F1 has an abundance of talents at the moment, all of whom can give a tough run to one another one day. It is going to be interesting to see how title races develop over the coming seasons.