Why Verstappen Is Already the Greatest of His Generation
“I don’t think about records. I just want to win every race.” – Max Verstappen
The Argument Is Already Over
There is a version of this debate that requires more time to settle. More seasons, more championships, more data points before a conclusion can be drawn with any confidence.
That version does not apply to Max Verstappen’s place among his generation.
The argument is already over. It was probably over by the end of 2023. What remains is the formality of time confirming what the evidence already shows clearly.
Verstappen is 28 years old. He has four Formula 1 world championships. He has more race wins than drivers who spent entire careers being considered all-time greats. He has produced individual performances, in the wet, under pressure, in cars that did not deserve the results he extracted from them, that belong in the same conversation as anything the sport has ever seen.
The question is not whether he is the greatest of his generation. The question is how far beyond his generation the conversation should extend.
What Makes Him Different
The easiest way to assess a driver’s ability is lap times and championship results. By those measures, Verstappen’s case is already conclusive.
But the more interesting assessment is qualitative. What does he do that others cannot and how consistently does he do it?
The wet-weather performances stand out first. Verstappen in the rain operates at a level that separates him from every contemporary on the grid. His 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix drive from the back of the field, his performance in Brazil in 2016 as a teenager in a car that had no right to be where he put it, his qualifying laps in conditions that caused multiple drivers to go off the road while he went faster than anyone. Rain removes the car’s advantage and reveals the driver. In the rain, Verstappen is in a category of one.
His ability to manage tyres over a race distance while maintaining qualifying-level pace in the closing laps is another quality that engineers across the grid describe in terms that approach disbelief. The conventional expectation is that pushing hard destroys tyres. Verstappen routinely pushes hard and destroys the competition instead.
And then there is the racecraft. The instinct for the moment, the commitment in wheel-to-wheel situations, the ability to read a race two or three moves ahead and position himself accordingly. These are learnable skills to a point, but the ceiling on them is innate and Verstappen’s ceiling appears to be significantly higher than anyone currently sharing a grid with him.
The Championship Record in Context
Four championships is the number that defines the legacy in the record books, but the context around those championships matters.
The 2021 title was contested against Lewis Hamilton in perhaps the most equal fight the sport had seen in a decade. The outcome was controversial, but the season itself, the genuine back-and-forth between two drivers at the absolute peak of their abilities, was a demonstration that Verstappen could match the greatest of the previous generation on equal machinery.
The 2022, 2023 and 2024 titles were different in character. The Red Bull was dominant, particularly in 2023 and dominant machinery produces dominant champions as a matter of course. The question those seasons raise is how much of the achievement was Verstappen and how much was the car.
The answer, supported by the specific performances that stand out within those seasons, is that the car was a multiplier rather than the cause. In the races where the Red Bull was not fastest, Verstappen still found results. In the moments where the championship could have been lost through misfortune or error, it wasn’t. The consistency of excellence across varied conditions, varied circuits and varied levels of competitive pressure is not something a car alone produces.
The Comparisons
Inevitably, the conversation extends to Schumacher and Hamilton.
Schumacher’s seven championships and Hamilton’s seven championships remain the record Verstappen is chasing. At 28, with years of competitive racing ahead of him, the arithmetic is straightforward. If he continues at anything approaching his current level, the record is reachable.
What is more interesting than the numbers is the nature of the comparison. Each of the three dominated their era with a completeness that made the championship feel almost predetermined in their peak seasons. Each extracted results from machinery that, on specific weekends, should not have produced those results. Each had a relationship with winning that went beyond professional ambition into something that looks, from the outside, closer to compulsion.
Verstappen is different from both in ways that are worth noting. He is more openly emotional than Schumacher, more willing to express frustration and joy in the moment. He is less political than Hamilton, less interested in the sport’s wider cultural narrative and more purely focused on what happens between lights out and the chequered flag.
Whether those differences matter to the historical assessment is a question for another decade. Right now, the relevant comparison is with his contemporaries and that comparison is not close.
The Generation He Has Defined
Norris is exceptional. Leclerc is exceptional. Russell is excellent. Hamilton, in the closing years of a career that will never be adequately summarised, remains formidable.
None of them have beaten Verstappen in a championship fight when the machinery was comparable. Some have come close. None have crossed the line first.
That is the definition of the greatest of a generation. Not the absence of worthy rivals, but the consistent ability to be better than them when it matters most.
Verstappen has done and continues to do it. The generation that came through with him will be remembered as genuinely talented, genuinely competitive and definitively second.
That’s not a criticism of them, it’s is a measure of him.
What 2026 Adds to the Picture
The 2026 season is still running as this is written and it’s already telling us something important. The regulation reset handed every team a blank sheet. Red Bull’s car is not the dominant package it was in 2023. The pecking order has shuffled. And yet Verstappen is still in the title fight.
Drivers like Leclerc and Russell have had stronger machinery under them at various points this year. Mercedes found form early. Ferrari looked rapid in qualifying trim. The grid is genuinely closer than it’s been in years. That’s the context in which Verstappen is still competing for a fifth title.
Meanwhile, younger talents are making their presence felt. Kimi Antonelli has been exceptional for Mercedes, taking wins at Monza and Madrid. You can read the full breakdown of his Italian Grand Prix victory at Monza to see just how composed he was under pressure. That’s the kind of rival Verstappen is now dealing with. A 19-year-old winning grands prix in a fast car. And Verstappen is still there, still fighting, still extracting the maximum.
That’s the detail that gets lost in the championship-count conversation. It’s not just that he won four titles. It’s that he keeps finding a way to be relevant no matter what the regulations do to the competitive order around him.
The Role of the Team Behind Him
No driver wins championships alone. The race engineer relationship is one of the most underappreciated factors in a driver’s success. Verstappen’s partnership with Gianpiero Lambiase is one of the most effective in the sport’s recent history. Blunt, direct, built on mutual respect. It suits Verstappen’s personality completely.
Red Bull as an organisation built their entire technical structure around maximising what Verstappen could do. That’s a two-way relationship. The team made him better. He made the team better. But the driver who demands that level of organisational commitment and then delivers on it consistently, is doing something that goes beyond just being fast on a Saturday afternoon.
The family dimension is worth a mention too. Jos Verstappen’s influence on Max’s development was intense and at times controversial. Whatever you think of the methods, the output is a driver who arrived in F1 at 17 already thinking like a veteran. That mental maturity, the ability to handle pressure without cracking, didn’t appear from nowhere.
Key Takeaways
- Verstappen has four world championships at 28 years old. The record of seven held by Schumacher and Hamilton is mathematically reachable if he stays healthy and competitive.
- His wet-weather driving and tyre management are the two technical qualities that most consistently separate him from his peers. Both show up regardless of which car he’s in.
- The 2021 title fight against Hamilton proved he could compete at the highest level on near-equal machinery. The dominant years that followed don’t erase that.
- The 2026 season, with a reset regulation package and a genuinely competitive grid, is another data point in his favour. He’s still fighting for wins when the car doesn’t hand them to him.
- His generation, Norris, Leclerc, Russell, Piastri, is talented. None of them have beaten him in a straight fight yet. That’s the only metric that really matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many F1 world championships does Max Verstappen have?
Verstappen has four Formula 1 world championships, won in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. He claimed his first title in controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi finale against Lewis Hamilton. The following three were more dominant, particularly 2023 when Red Bull won 21 of 22 races. At 28 he’s already fourth on the all-time list alongside Alain Prost.
Who are the drivers considered Verstappen’s main rivals in his generation?
Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and George Russell are the names most often cited. All three are within a few years of Verstappen’s age and have shown genuine pace at the front of the grid. Norris in particular pushed Verstappen hardest in 2024. None of them have beaten him to a championship when the cars were comparable.
How does Verstappen compare to Schumacher and Hamilton historically?
Schumacher and Hamilton both hold seven world championships. Verstappen is on four at age 28, which gives him a realistic shot at the record if he stays competitive into his mid-thirties. The qualitative comparisons are harder. All three dominated their respective eras with a completeness that made rivals look slower than they actually were.
Was Verstappen’s 2021 title win legitimate given the Abu Dhabi controversy?
The race director’s decision to restart the Abu Dhabi 2021 finale under a selective safety car was widely criticised and led to Michael Masi losing his job. The decision was irregular. But Verstappen’s season as a whole, 10 wins and consistent pressure on Hamilton across 22 rounds, was entirely legitimate. The controversy is about the finish, not the season.
Is Verstappen still competitive in 2026 under the new regulations?
Yes. The 2026 regulation reset changed the competitive order significantly. Red Bull’s car isn’t the dominant package it was in 2023. Mercedes and Ferrari have been strong. Despite that, Verstappen has remained in title contention, which is exactly the kind of evidence that separates a great driver from a driver who was great because of his car.
