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Max Verstappen is the best Formula 1 driver of all time, according to Michael Schumacher's former rival on track, David Coulthard. Coulthard, despite putting Verstappen with the likes of Ayrton Senna, Lewis Hamilton, and Michael Schumacher, picked the Dutchman as "arguably" the best driver to have graced the sport.
Coulthard sat down with Motorsport.com to play word association on F1 drivers' names. There, he was asked to speak about the Red Bull driver. Mentioning Verstappen, Coulthard claimed that the three-time world champion is not just the best driver of his generation, but also the best in the sport's history.
"Best," Coulthard said in the media interaction. "Arguably the best. Not only one of his generation, but arguably best of all time and that's controversial. It'll be controversial to many people you know. When I grew up Ayrton was the benchmark, and I worked with him and got to see him how he was. But every generation should be better than the next, you know."
Coulthard then brought in the example of how magnificent Hamilton, Schumacher, Senna, and, of course, Verstappen have been during their peak racing days. Speaking about this, he added:
"I think the natural speed that he [Verstappen] has and to what he has done at such a young age, is something that is very remarkable and controversial right now because we are living the moment and there will be those that naturally will look at Lewis and his incredible achievements. [But] the truth is, Max, Lewis, Ayrton, Schumacher, these guys, they all live in very rare air that merely good racing drivers never get to breathe."
While Ayrton Senna left the world too early, Michael Schumacher has retired from the sport. Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time world champion already and is hunting for his eighth, while Max Verstappen is currently on his way to securing his fourth world championship.
What makes Max Verstappen "arguably" the best F1 driver?
Max Verstappen took the F1 world by storm when Helmut Marko signed him for the Toro Rosso seat alongside Carlos Sainz in 2014. Right from his debut in 2015 to this day in 2024, the Dutchman has been a threat to his rivals.
He made his F1 debut at the age of 17 and became the youngest driver in the sport's history. Fast forward to 2016, Red Bull promoted him to the main team from Toro Rosso, and he won the debut race in Spain. With this, he became the youngest F1 driver to win a Grand Prix race.
From 2016 to 2020, the Dutch driver recorded nine more victories to his name, and then came 2021. That year, Max Verstappen was in an intense title battle with Lewis Hamilton, which ultimately went in the former's favor. With this, he started his dominance in the sport.
Verstappen has claimed three back-to-back F1 titles in 2021, 2022, and 2023 and currently leads the championship standings by 52 points from Lando Norris. Besides the three F1 titles, he has numerous accolades under his belt, such as two ESPY Best Driver awards, one Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, and three Dutch Sportsman of the Year awards.
The list doesn't end there, as the Red Bull star also won a Lorenzo Bandini trophy, three FIA Personality of the Year, one FIA Rookie of the Year, three Autosport International Racing Driver of the Year, one Autosport Rookie of the Year, and four FIA Action of the Year awards, all at just 27 years of age.
