Max Verstappen cannot be considered amongst the all-time greats of Formula 1 according to former Le Mans 24 hour race winner Richard Bradley.
The Red Bull driver has claimed the last two World Driver’s Championships and looks to be on course for a third.
However, Bradley believes that because Verstappen is yet to achieve a race win with a car that is down the development order, he can be considered with the best Formula 1 has had to offer.
Verstappen, though is in the midst of an historic run of form, helping Red Bull smash the record for number of consecutive race wins by a constructor with 12 in a row.
The Dutch driver has contributed eight consecutive triumphs to the tally since Sergio Perez’s win at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan.
Despite being on course for a third straight title, Max Verstappen still has his doubters
‘For me, Max hasn’t proven himself properly in a car which doesn’t have the capability to win yet,’ Bradley explained on the On Track GP podcast.
‘I’m not talking one which had a possibility to win, I’m talking one which really didn’t have a chance to win.
‘But whereas you look at the real greats, Senna, with that 1984 [season] driving the Toleman but then winning in an uncompetitive Lotus when his teammates weren’t on the podiums, then he went into a good car. But even when the McLaren wasn’t good in ’93, he still won races in it.
‘You look at Schumacher. He won the World Championship in that Benetton when his teammates were absolutely nowhere, took Ferrari and was winning races in 1996 when, again, they were nowhere.
Despite a record-equaling seven world titles, there was no place for Lewis Hamilton on Bradley’s all-time greats list.
‘You look at (Mika) Hakkinen, he was winning races before McLaren were in a position to win the championship. Prost has won the most races not starting in the top four of anybody in history.’
Perhaps surprisingly there was no mention of seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton but there was praise reserved for one his biggest rivals, Sebastien Vettel.
‘Going back to the [Sebastian] Vettel factor, Vettel won a race in that Toro Rosso, and was consistently in the top six’
Verstappen is well on his way to a third world title, so it appears there may be some time before he is able to satisfy Bradley’s criteria for greatness.
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