Verstappen “will continue to break records for the rest of his career” – rivals

2022 Mexican Grand Prix

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Formula 1 drivers heaped praise on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after his record-breaking win in the Mexican Grand Prix.

Verstappen claimed his 14th victory of the 2022 F1 season last weekend, setting the record for the most wins achieved in a single campaign. And with two grands prix remaining on the 22-event calendar, he could extend his new record.

Among those who expect him to is Alexander Albon, who was team mate to Verstappen from 2019-20. He’s pretty much on top of his form right now,” said Albon. “He’s at the top of his game, and two more races now, I reckon he’s going to keep on going.”

Verstappen’s performances “demand a lot of respect,” admitted Albon, who is a year older than his former team mate but started over 100 fewer F1 races. “He’s still relatively young, but he’s got a lot of experience, and you can see that kind of confidence that he has of himself. It’s impressive.”

The Williams driver said Verstappen heled him “understand the philosophy of a fast car much more” and believes the two-times world champion has a “different” way of extracting performance with Pirelli’s F1 tyres.

“It might not feel always that easy to drive, but there is a way to be quick around them. It’s no secret that you need a lot of fun to be quick [like him].”

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who was team mate to Verstappen at Red Bull from 2016-18, praised the team’s work in providing car capable of breaking records.

“They’ve been dominant. Some people get bored when someone dominates, but actually on one hand, it’s quite phenomenal to see,” he said.

“Obviously I know Red Bull very well and a lot of the guys in the team worked very hard to get back at the constructors [title]. So of course I feel some happiness in my heart for them.”

His team mate Lando Norris, who has raced alongside Verstappen in Esports as well as against him in F1, said his success is “incredible.”

“He’s achieving a lot, he’s breaking a lot of records,” said Norris. “He will continue to break records for the rest of his career, probably. Probably one of the best drivers in F1 ever. So he deserves it all.”

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2022 Mexican Grand Prix

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Author information

Ida Wood
Often found in junior single-seater paddocks around Europe doing journalism and television commentary, or dabbling in teaching photography back in the UK. Currently based...
Claire Cottingham
Claire has worked in motorsport for much of her career, covering a broad mix of championships including Formula One, Formula E, the BTCC, British...

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59 comments on “Verstappen “will continue to break records for the rest of his career” – rivals”

  1. Probably one of the best drivers in F1 ever.

    Good to see drivers openly admitting what should be pretty obvious to any F1 fan. Max is one of the best drivers in F1 history, but for me personally he’s already the best and those who don’t believe will be proven wrong in seasons to come.

    When you see Max qualifying 1.4s behind Mercedes at 2020 Hungarian GP, behind Mercedes, Racing Point, Ferrari and barely in front of McLaren, whooping 7 tenths faster than Albon, only to somehow finish 2nd in the race, ahead of one Mercedes, you know this guy is very, very special. By winning 14 races in 2022 in a car which wasn’t anywhere near being dominant as Sir Hamilton’s Mercedes between 2014-2020, he showed exactly that. You can be 100% sure people at Liberty and FOM are profusely sweating right now, because they know Max can and will destroy their business with his insane dominance. Don’t be surprised to see moves aimed at nerfing Red Bull, because Mercedes and Ferrari have to have significiant car advantage to beat Max over a season, as we’ve seen in 2021 and 2022.

    1. Maybe he is the best, maybe he isn’t.

      @armchairexpert

      and those who don’t believe will be proven wrong in seasons to come.

      For me this comment rather undermined your point. It’s one thing to make a case with the facts you have to hand, it is quite another to try and validate your point with a Crystal Ball. As much as I doubt he will suddenly become useless, there are so many factor over what is likely to be a long period of time that it is not possible to be certain of anything that hasn’t happened yet.

      1. randomnumber (@)
        3rd November 2022, 10:45

        He lost 1-2 races worth more of points due to luck than Hamilton, was targeted by multiple regulations changes during the season, and had on balance a slightly slower car. Despite this he entered the final race against a 7x wdc level on points. One of the greatest seasons in F1 history, if not the best.

        That Jonathan Wheatley was able to overcome Toto’s stranglehold on the race director and prevent Hamilton being gifted another wdc he didn’t deserve was the cherry on top.

        1. Absolutely agree in regards to 2021, I just feel like people tend to omit verstappen’s mistakes in 2022.

          1. randomnumber (@)
            3rd November 2022, 13:43

            Yes his season this year has been more or less the same as Hamilton in 2019 and 2020. It’s impressive but with their quality of car and strength of opposition they can only be tested so much. I’d still rate Max this year a bit higher since his mistakes have been less costly on average, but he hasn’t been remarkable in the same way he was last year. Nothing like the French/US GP last year where it really came down to the wire (Canads doesn’t count that was never going to happen)

        2. Slightly slower car?? Adrian Newey has already busted that myth. According to him Max had the fastest car in 2021. And Max was pretty lucky to not get a disqualification for brake testing Lewis in Saudi Arabia. And let’s not forget Max took Lewis out in Monza and was helped by many drivers on the grid. Drivers like Alonso, Tsunoda, Gasly, Perez etc are all on rfecord saying they would do what they could to help Max

          2021 was tainted by not only Masi bending the safety car rules that rescued Max from the jaws of defeat, but also by the fact that RB overspent on the cost cap.

          1. randomnumber (@)
            3rd November 2022, 22:37

            Lewis took himself out in Monza by ignoring blue flags and pushing out wide. Red Bull’s 400k overspend was far less concerning than Mercedes incestuous relationship with the FIA. Of course Newey said he had the fastest car, he designed it; the numbers disagree with him. Hamilton was rescued from defeat by a likely illegal car for the last 4 races (Mercedes is never investigated and never punished for anything, so we can never know if their cars are legal or not). Max didn’t brake test Lewis in Saudi Arabia, he was driving to give the place back and Lewis made a characteristic mistake. He’s English, so Sky sucessfully projected this onto Max.

            None of other drivers on the listed punted him out like Bottas did, or were used for engine debelo

          2. randomnumber (@)
            3rd November 2022, 22:41

            *velopment like Russell was. Another incredibly dishonest fraud fan who was happy to watch the sport tank and is angry the non-English world finds it watchable again. Never forget your guy has lost three rigged championships

    2. By winning 14 races in 2022 in a car which wasn’t anywhere near being dominant as Sir Hamilton’s Mercedes between 2014-2020, he showed exactly that.

      That’s where you’re being disingenuous. Firstly by putting the 2014-2016 cars on the same level as the 2017-2020 cars. Secondly, by suggesting that Hamilton’s life at Mercedes was easy, when in fact Rosberg was putting on a serious challenge. If Hamilton had had such an enormous advantage, he’d hold the record for most wins in a season, by far. What Max has done this year is exactly the same as what Hamilton did in the strongest years with Bottas as teammate (2020), or what Vettel did in 2013. The Redbull was a class apart, he was in tune with the car, whereas Webber was nowhere, and he won 13 races that year. Vettel was the wunderkind then. That didn’t age well, did it? So, don’t butcher history before claiming that another “new kid” is the real best of all time. It’s just history repeating itself, and people with short memory or no previous knowledge of the sport claiming that the current guy is the one.

    3. By winning 14 races in 2022 in a car which wasn’t anywhere near being dominant as Sir Hamilton’s Mercedes between 2014-2020, he showed exactly that.

      But where do you get this certainty that this year’s Red Bull isn’t that dominant? Imagine Max starting 14th on the grid and yet everyone expects him to win – does that strike you as being “not as dominant as the 2014 Mercedes”? And if your explanation is that the Ferrari took a bunch of poles, I’ll ask you if you watched the 2013 season where the Merc was a qualifying monster but nearly always nowhere in the race.

      1. They should change the drs rules. What is the point of penalties if the drs negates them? The best car cant really be penalised, whether it is grid position, 10 sec stop and go, etc. Having the fastest car is one thing, but overtaking without drs is another. Now, with drs, overtaking is not a problem. The same issue was with Hamilton when he had the fastest car.

  2. With the quotes from Norris and Albon, it starts to feel similar to chess.
    Other players feel that aslong as the genius prodigy competes they stand no chance of winning.
    And there is nothing to it but wait till this era is over and the next generation takes over.

    It would be a shame if there isn’t going to be any competition in the near future.

  3. Andy (@andyfromsandy)
    3rd November 2022, 9:29

    It should not come as any surprise and it shouldn’t be unexpected that he does continue to break records. It would be a surprise if he doesn’t.

    1. The same could’ve been said about Alonso after 2006, yet look what happened. F1 is a fickle business. If Alonso and McLaren didn’t have such a falling out in 2007, he could easily have taken that title, and 2008 too. Or he could’ve won it in 2010 and 2012 with a slight twist of fate, stayed with Ferrari and win in 2017/8, and been a 6 time champion.

      Things can change fast, which is why the Mercedes domination of 2014-2021 was so awe inspiring, even if it did get a bit boring at times. They maintained that dominance through regulation changes and without questions about legality and largely without major controversy.

      Let’s just wait and see what happens. Things can change quickly in sport.

      1. randomnumber (@)
        3rd November 2022, 14:09

        If they didn’t have a British driver their car would’ve been deemed illegal and they would’ve been nerfed into the midfield like Ferrari was

        1. @KeithCollantine – do we really need such comments?

  4. I highly doubt that.

  5. What records does Verstappen actually hold?

    He has a few ‘youngest’ records:
    – Youngest to participate in an official session at 17
    – Youngest to start a race at 17
    – Youngest to score points at 17 (this and the preceding two can’t be broken because the FIA has since mandated drivers are 18.)
    – Youngest leader, winner and podium at 18.
    – Youngest fastest lap at 19.
    – Youngest ‘grand slam’ at 23.

    His other records are due to having scored:
    – the most podium finishes in a season in 2021, but it’s not the highest percentage.
    – the most wins in a season in 2022, but it’s not the highest percentage.
    – the most points in a season in 2022, but it’s not the highest percentage.

    There unfortunately isn’t much to talk about in terms of the championship this F1 season, but it’s hardly the case that Verstappen is breaking records left and right. He’s having a dominant season like many other champions have had in the past. There’s not much more to it.

    1. Exactly. It’s what strong/top drivers do when they have strong cars. Who doesn’t see that this year’s Redbull has become a dominant car, and by dominant I really mean a league apart from the rest, is disingenuous. Vettel did exactly the same in 2013. Hamilton did exactly the same in 2020. Note that I don’t mention the 2014 or 2016 cars, because yes they were dominant, but it was not a single horse race inside the team. Had Bottas been Hamilton’s teammate in those years, Hamilton would have broken all records that there were to be broken.

  6. AllTheCoolNamesWereTaken
    3rd November 2022, 11:05

    He will continue to break records for the rest of his career – equipment permitting.

    I added an important caveat to the quote. Seb was shattering records left and right until his team stopped being dominant. Same story with Lewis. As well as countless others before them.

    Don’t get me wrong. I think Max is one of the greatest talents the sport has ever seen. Definitely better than Seb – perhaps even better than Lewis. But still, he’s only human. When we get the next shuffling around of the teams’ performance hierarchy, and Red Bull is no longer on top (and that will happen – it’s just a matter of when), Max may well find himself unable to add to his tally of wins and podiums. At that point, some people will probably say the same things that many are currently saying about Seb and Lewis: “He was only breaking records because his car enabled him to. Look at where he is now.”

    This, of course, is true for literally every record-holder in F1, past and present. Barring occasional freak results, a driver can only achieve what their car enables them to achieve. However, this does not automatically mean that they’ve “lost their touch,” or “are overrated,” or whatever else people say when someone who used to win all the time is suddenly no longer doing it. It just means that even the greatest among the driving greats is, at the end of the day, human – just like the people designing the cars.

    1. This, of course, is true for literally every record-holder in F1, past and present. Barring occasional freak results, a driver can only achieve what their car enables them to achieve.

      Exactly, and the truly greats are those who both do that and contribute to gathering a team that can make those cars. After all, every record-holder also had a teammate in the same car who couldn’t deliver despite having the machine to do so.

      1. AllTheCoolNamesWereTaken
        3rd November 2022, 16:27

        the truly greats are those who both do that and contribute to gathering a team that can make those cars.

        … but eventually, every team – no matter how dominant – will produce a sub-par car, and every driver – no matter how great – will then have to spend one or more seasons essentially fighting for scraps. See for instance: Schumacher, Vettel, Hamilton.

        Which brings me back to my point about even the all-time greats being human. And it brings me back to the bigger point, namely, that enduring a season (or a few seasons) of comparatively underwhelming results doesn’t necessarily detract from their greatness – it’s merely a testament to the fact that they’re human beings rather than demigods.

        1. Very sensible take. Should be common sense really for any fan of the sport.

        2. Agreed to a point. But the way they fight for those scraps, and what those scraps are, can still be quite telling. Take for example Schumacher in his ‘first career’, if you will; those seasons where the car wasn’t there still allowed him to show that special talent that marks him as one of the greats. His wins in 1996 in the wet, his utterly dominant return in Malaysia 1999, or the fact that he somehow managed to finish 3rd in the WDC in 2005 are some of those things (and yes, reliability and Montoya missing a few races helped, as did the Michelin-farce in Indianapolis – but still; nobody else beat a Renault and/or McLaren that year).

          Vettel has had some exceptional races in 2017 and 2018, really squeezing every bit of performance out of that Ferrari (the downsides of that are perhaps, and arguably unfairly, better known). Compare that to his world champion team-mate, who barely scraped together one single win in all of 2014-2018, and it becomes obvious that even in the ‘bad’ seasons the greats still make their mark.

    2. Very true!!

  7. It’s the car

  8. Likely, or at least until his team stops being the outright fastest.
    Partly referring to @AllTheCoolNamesWereTaken’s post.

  9. I think Max will drive for Ferrari if Red Bull stops delivering. For them he can be the next Michael Schumacher and put them back on top.

    1. You’re right man.. Max is the only driver on the grid capable of giving Ferrari a championship. I just don’t see him leaving for a midfield team though.

    2. @dutchtreat
      RBR will not be a midfield (or lower) team all of a sudden. Even if things go south for them, they’ll probably still be top 3. Verstappen already committed to RBR. I just don’t see him leaving. He also keeps hinting about him not wanting to race F1 until he is ‘old’. And he claims he has no interest in beating the 7 titles record. I just don’t see him wanting to go for Ferrari. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see it. Just for the culture clash alone. Would be fun if he gets a ‘we are looking’ on the radio in the heat of the moment. Lot of bleeping to do for the broadcasters

      1. Ahaha, indeed, I can already imagine that!

      2. And he claims he has no interest in beating the 7 titles record

        Don’t take him at his word on this. He said records don’t mean much to him but the delight on the after-race driver radio in Mexico told a different story :-)

  10. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    3rd November 2022, 12:33

    Well, they forgot to mention that the FIA and Red Bull made a travesty of the sport and has broken as many rules as Verstappen did to make those records possible.

    Speaking of credit which is the topic-du-jour, do they get the credit they deserve? Not quite. Why are Max and Horner not complaining about the FIA not getting the credit they deserve for ruining the sport? Have they totally forgotten about Masi, arguably Red Bull’s greatest champion of all time? Shouldn’t his picture be at the front of the team’s office next to Mateschitz’s with tinier pictures of Vettel and Verstappen?

    1. randomnumber (@)
      3rd November 2022, 12:47

      Everything you blame Red Bull for is something Mercedes did. Attendance numbers are way up. Max is more popular than Lewis worldwide. By your own metrics Red Bull saved the sport.

      1. Andy (@andyfromsandy)
        3rd November 2022, 13:31

        Max is more popular than Lewis worldwide was made in October last year. There might be a shift depending on how the world sees the cost cap breach.

      2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        3rd November 2022, 13:52

        @randomnumber so if Lance Armstrong was more popular which he was and attendance was higher, he should have kept the results. He did more for the sport than you and I did but he also cheated. Although in his defense he didn’t cheat with the support of the governing body which Red Bull and Verstappen have been doing.

        1. randomnumber (@)
          3rd November 2022, 14:06

          Punting your opponent into the wall at 51 g then having your teammate follow it up next grand prix and getting away with slaps on the wrist is cheating with the governing of the sanctioning body. Holding illegal tire tests without penalty is cheating with the governing of the sanctioning body. The FIA never targeted Mercedes with reg changes the way they targeted Ferrari and Red Bull. Red Bull overspend by 400k, likely much less than the repairs caused by Mercedes drivers in Britain and Hungary. None of that matters to you. I don’t mind that Red Bull is getting penalized, but if the teams were reversed you’d throw a fit and claim it’s a conspiracy in the same way you sent death threats to Masi and Latifi, cheered Max to the hospital, and defended Toto’s dangerous request to deploy a virtual safety car when marshals were needed on track.

          1. Andy (@andyfromsandy)
            3rd November 2022, 14:26

            What did MB say to the stewards that got them the penalties?

            If anyone cheated it looks like it was the stewards not MB.

            ORBR actually according to their books actually overspent by more but the FIA found some stuff to reduce that. Take that as a win.

            Back to that old chestnut of repair costs to mitigate the overspend. All teams have had them, it is part of racing.

          2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            3rd November 2022, 15:01

            @randomnumber if you believe Lewis could clip a wheel without affecting his wing and tires heading into Copse, he should have won every race he competed in. It requires taking into account Max’s mistakes and punishing him for Max’s miscalculation.

            He wouldn’t slow down heading into the corner. He has the inside line which means he could simply push Max off the track if he wanted to…

          3. He has the inside line which means he could simply push Max off the track if he wanted to…

            No, the rules explicitly forbid this. It’s one of the rare times in the rules where the FIA uses that word; explicitly.

          4. The FIA never targeted Mercedes with reg changes the way they targeted Ferrari and Red Bull.

            Have you actually been watching F1?

    2. @freelittlebirds
      I’d love to see more competition for the top spot in the championship.. but if that doesn’t come and the Verstappen/RBR combo gets even more dominant, I will find solace in knowing it will leave some people fuming

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        3rd November 2022, 15:08

        I’m not against Red Bull or Verstappen winning. It’s the manner in which they win. If they had won fair and square and beaten their amazing opposition on track, we’d be the first to tip our hats off.

        1. @freelittlebirds
          That’s a more nuanced comment, that was not what the original comment conveyed.
          Cheers

  11. If he has the courage to go to a different team, then all one can say is we’ll see. For me, being great at more than one team is one of the things I expect from an all time great.

    1. Well he has driven in a Torro Rosso too :)

    2. That is indeed true, schumacher was unfortunately too old and had been out of the sport for a few years when he came back for merc but he did great both at benetton and ferrari; hamilton still won 20 gp at mclaren back when they were front runners before going to merc, fangio won with 4 different teams!

  12. Expecting Max to continue, brilliant talent. His 2016 Brazil drive still my favourite.

    But here’s a question is there anything Max is better at than any of the previous outstanding talents? So Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Schumacher???

    1. I think he’s as good as all of them if not better in most of the aspect of all these drivers if I have to go by his 2022 season.

      1. In a car built by a cheating team….hmmmm

        His No2 is Perez, who literally is the Redbull boot licker.

    2. I have been watching F1 for decades. Drivers need to tick a number of boxes to become one of the greats. I am yet to find out which box Max doesn’t tick. So I would say he is as all-round as the others and as consistent. Although I do not agree with all the names you mention. For instance Vettel to me doesn’t tick the box ‘wheel to wheel racing’ or any kind of racing for that matter. He was a single lap champ and could drive off into the distance without having to battle for position. As soon as it was needed to go wheel to wheel he did not deliver at top level anymore. He is a ‘super Bottas’. I think because of how 2021 unfolded a number of people won’t let Max in anymore which is their loss since I think he has all the traits of becoming the best of the greats. We should all hope he doesn’t stay in the best car for too long, otherwise we end up with a Hamilton situation again and all the false expectations this brings to the man. He surely belongs to the greats but 7 titles does not reflect where he stands vs the others. Schumachers 7 I can not judge as I was to devastated at the loss of Senna so I skipped a lot of his dominant years. I know he always won, but can’t recall the way in which he did it, so hard to judge for me whether the tally of 7 does fit him.

  13. This site is hilarious.

    You have muppets above claiming the Redbull 2021 car was average compared to the all conquering Merc – Newey doesn’t think so.

    Just so everyone is clear, Max 2021 “Championship” was gifted to him and his 2022 car is going to go down as the greatest every statistically speaking better than the Senna McLaren and it should be illegal due to the cheating Redbull.

    You actually have his deluded fans saying it because of Max….I bet Newey loves that.

    Redbull disgust me, I hope Max leaves and wins a Championship he deserves without bending of the rules or a car built with excess funding vs his competitors.

  14. petebaldwin (@)
    4th November 2022, 16:22

    As mentioned on the other thread – you can clearly see the influx of Netflix fans to this website in recent times.

    1. Indeed, the amount of sourness and denial is staggering. It seems it is more important to cheer for some one or defend some one rather than looking at who is performing well within a sport and appreciating that.

    2. I agree.

      I used to come to this site as it was a welcome relief from the non-stop ‘culture wars’ of normal news sites. If anything, the vibe on Racefans.net is now often worse!

  15. Have to agree Max is the greatest driver F1 has ever produced. Being able to win races every single season when hes in a competitive car, something lewis or schumacher wasnt capable of. One of the few drivers other than alonso who proves that he dosent need the fastest car to win championships and races. Qualifying 14th and leading the race after 10 laps, legend.

    1. And vettel shouldnt even be compared to max. He nearly lost 2010 and 2012 with that red bull.

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