The argument over which racer, Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton, is the better has finally been resolved by Gerhard Berger as the 2024 Formula One Championship gets closer.
F1 legend Gerhard Berger expressed his thoughts on Lewis Hamilton vs. Max Verstappen as the superior driver. With seven victories and ten podium finishes so far this season, Verstappen, 26, is presently leading the 2024 Formula 1 Championship standings with 313 points.
Before the year ends, the Belgian-Dutch driver has three more sprint races and six more Grand Prix to increase his lead. It appears improbable that Hamilton will be able to challenge Verstappen for this year’s championship with Mercedes with just 174 points left to play for—assuming he wins every event remaining. Hamilton is currently sixth in the standings with just 166 points earned from victories at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
Although Verstappen seems to have Hamilton beat in terms of driving prowess when looking at things on paper, history books paint a very different picture. Together with Michael Schumacher, the 39-year-old owns a record seven Formula One World Drivers’ Championship titles. He also holds the record for the most victories, podium finishes, and pole positions.
Verstappen, on the other hand, has won the Formula 1 Championship three times in a row. He is hoping to win his fourth championship with Red Bull at the end of the 2024 season, barring a late surge by McLaren’s Lando Norris that would close the 59-point gap between first and second. Former Ferrari driver Paul Berger has boldly declared that Verstappen is the greatest driver of all time, even though it may be too close to determine who is the better driver overall between Verstappen and Hamilton at this point.
The 65-year-old acknowledged in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport: “He considers where you can pass and where you can’t. This was a tool that none of Schumacher, Hamilton, or (Ayrton) Senna had.
It’s evident that Max is in the right place at all times. In a duel at the beginning, in the first corner. Nothing that could be done better than him, in my opinion. Max Verstappen is most likely the greatest Formula 1 driver we have ever seen because of this.”
Even with the Austrian’s compliments, Verstappen still has a ways to go before he can be listed among the greats of all time, ahead of the likes of Schumacher and Hamilton. Naturally, the 26-year-old won 19 of the 22 Grands Prix to secure the F1 Championship last year with a record-breaking 575 points, but his 61 career victories pale in comparison to Hamilton’s 105 and Schumacher’s 91.
He trails Hamilton (201) by 108 podiums, and his 32 fastest laps are not nearly as good as those of his competitors, Schumacher (67) and Russell (77). Even though he’s already surpassed Schumacher with 2,899.5 career points, he still has a ways to go if he surpasses Hamilton’s 4,805.5, especially since the British driver is still competing and doesn’t appear to be ready to hang up his race car just yet.
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