2024-03-01

Is Max Verstappen Formula One's Greatest Ever Driver?

Max Verstappen is undoubtedly an exceptional F1 driver – but is he the best in history? It’s a debate that has raged since his first F1 Drivers’ Championship triumph in 2021. He has now delivered three straight titles and utterly crushed the competition in the 2023 F1 season.

Is it too early to talk about the Dutchman as being one of the greats? We had this discussion a decade ago when Lewis Hamilton was hoovering up titles, and before him when Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher dominated the sport.

Winning world championships doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the best. But it certainly aids the argument!

Below, we’ve ranked the best F1 drivers on everything from race wins to sheer exuberance to determine where Verstappen sits on the list of greats.

What We Rank

Ranking F1 drivers is subjective, no matter how many stats you use. Basing the shortlist on raw stats like title triumphs and Grand Prix victories is standard practice. However, discussing the “greatest ever” driver means thinking about the impact each man had on the sport.

Our ranking system, then, goes beyond pure numbers. We also look at how loved each driver is or was, and their F1 legacy in 2024. We’ll admit, some of our rankings are pure opinion! But that’s what makes the debate so fun.

Titles

Michael Schumacher – 7 titles | Our ranking points: 1
Lewis Hamilton – 7 titles | Our ranking points: 1
Juan Manuel Fangio – 5 titles | Our ranking points: 3
Alain Prost – 4 titles | Our ranking points: 4
Sebastian Vettel – 4 titles | Our ranking points: 4
Max Verstappen – 3 titles | Our ranking points: 5

Let’s start with the headline stat. Verstappen boasts three Drivers’ Championship titles. That’s alongside the likes of Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna. It's one behind Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel who, while exceptional drivers, are rarely considered the very best in the sport.

Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio are the headline acts here.

However, it’s worth noting that Verstappen was just 26 when he won his third world title. Schumacher, Hamilton, and Fanigo were older by that stage of their careers.

Race wins

Verstappen is eight years into his racing career yet has the third-most number of F1 wins already. Only Hamilton (103) and Schumacher (91) boast more as of the close of the 2023 season.

Verstappen's 54 wins from 185 grands prix gives him a 29.19% win rate. That's only narrowly behind the two men ahead of him.

Lewis Hamilton – 103 race wins | Our ranking points: 1
Michael Schumacher – 91 race wins | Our ranking points: 2
Max Verstappen – 54 race wins | Our ranking points: 3
Sebastian Vettel – 53 race wins | Our ranking points: 4
Alain Prost – 51 race wins | Our ranking points: 5

Backing Verstappen to add to his 54 race wins? Browse our Formula One betting markets, here at BetUK.

Percentage wins

Percentage wins are probably more important than race wins because this metric factors in drivers who had shorter careers, or who raced in years with much fewer grands prix. In fact, Verstappen doesn’t even rank in the top five here, so we will give him the maximum six points.

Juan Manuel Fangio – 47% | Our ranking points: 1
Alberto Ascari – 40.6% | Our ranking points: 2
Jim Clark – 34.7% | Our ranking points: 3
Lewis Hamilton – 31% | Our ranking points: 4
Michael Schumacher – 29.7% | Our ranking points: 5

Pole positions

F1 excellence is not all about race day. Securing pole position from Saturday qualifying can make the difference between winning and losing. Verstappen dominated qualifying in 2023 but is outside the top five heading into the 2024 season. He therefore picks up six points.

Lewis Hamilton – 104 pole positions | Our ranking points: 1
Michael Schumacher – 68 pole positions | Our ranking points: 2
Ayrton Senna – 65 pole positions | Our ranking points: 3
Sebastian Vettel – 57 pole positions | Our ranking points: 4
Alain Prost and Jim Clark – 33 pole positions | Our ranking points: 5

Pole percentages

It gets even worse for Verstappen in terms of pole position percentage. In fact, he’s not even in the top 10 of drivers here. This is the Dutchman’s weak spot. He’s winning grands prix without being on pole. Not that he needed to improve his qualifying results in 2023. He gets another six points here.

Juan Manuel Fangio – 55.7% | Our ranking points: 1
Alberto Ascari – 40% | Our ranking points: 2
Jim Clark – 45.2% | Our ranking points: 3
Ayrton Senna – 40.1% | Our ranking points: 4
Lewis Hamilton – 31% | Our ranking points: 5

Races entered

Those who argue it’s too early to claim Verstappen is the best F1 driver ever will likely point to career longevity as a factor against him. Verstappen is still relatively young. He benefits from driving in an era of 20+ races per year. He is still making it into the top 10 drivers for races entered. So, that’s another six points on his ranking.

Fernando Alonso – 380 race entered | Our ranking points: 1
Kimi Raikkonen –353 race entered | Our ranking points: 2
Lewis Hamilton – 332 race entered | Our ranking points: 3
Rubens Barrichello – 326 race entered | Our ranking points: 4
Jenson Button – 309 race entered | Our ranking points: 5

Seasonal dominance

One of the biggest reasons why fans advocate for Verstappen being the best of all time is down to his recent cross-season dominance. He won 34 of 44 races in the 2022 and 2023 seasons combined. His win rate in 2023 was an eye-watering 86.36% – the highest by more than 10%. But are two dominant seasons enough?

Max Verstappen – 86.3% win rate in 2023 | Our ranking points: 1
Alberto Ascari – 75% win rate in 1952 | Our ranking points: 2
Michael Schumacher – 72.2% win rate in 2004 | Our ranking points: 3
Jim Clark – 70% win rate in 1963 | Our ranking points: 4
Sebastian Vettel – 68.4% win rate in 2013 | Our ranking points: 5

Fan enthusiasm

Now we get into a different discussion about legendary status in F1. Are fans as enthusiastic for Verstappen as the other greats in the sport? In 2021 a Motorsport Network global survey of 167,302 fans from 187 countries said Verstappen was the most popular driver in the sport, ahead of Lando Norris and Hamilton. However, YouGov data shows he lags behind Hamilton, which is not a surprise as the data assesses UK fans only. Verstappen has become the anti-hero to Hamilton and his sheer dominance in 2023 put some people off the sport. He was even booed at the 2023 US Grand Prix.

However, he is loved in the Netherlands and across Europe, and his career arc still has a long way to run.

Verstappen is not as popular as Hamilton, or Senna, Jenson Button or Jackie Stewart in their pomp. Yet he is arguably more popular than Schumacher, Nelson Piquet and Jacques Villeneuve.

Does he rank in the top five just yet? We don't think so, meaning he gets another six points. Here's our list:

Ayrton Senna | Our ranking points: 1
Niki Lauda | Our ranking points: 2
Fernando Alonso | Our ranking points: 3
Lando Norris | Our ranking points: 4
Jenson Button | Our ranking points: 5

Legacy

It’s too early to judge Verstappen’s legacy. He’s only 26 and has at least another decade in the sport to come. Like Hamilton and Vettel before him, Verstappen could become an also-ran driver if his team – be it Red Bull or another constructor – mess up their car year on year.

Legacy is more about wins, it’s about how a driver changed the sport for the better or worse. Verstappen is leading F1 into a new Netflix era or passive viewing, sprint races, and social media controversies. His stamp on F1 goes beyond the podium.

We reckon the Dutchman has already crafted part of his legacy. There is now a Dutch Grand Prix, Red Bull are the biggest team on the planet, and his season-long tussle with Hamilton in 2021 attracted millions to the sport.

He’s part of the future. There’s more to come from Verstappen, that’s for sure. Yet he’s still done enough in the post-Covid era to creep into the top five.

Lewis Hamilton | Our ranking points: 1
Michael Schumacher | Our ranking points: 2
Ayrton Senna | Our ranking points: 3
Jackie Stewart | Our ranking points: 4
Max Verstappen | Our ranking points: 5

Is Verstappen The Best Driver?

Our calculations suggest Verstappen is not yet the king of F1, but he eventually might be. Verstappen is fifth among the best F1 drivers of all time. Ahead of him are joint-title holders Hamilton and Schumacher, the much-loved Senna, and the sport’s first big champion Fangio.

Lewis Hamilton | Our ranking points: 28
Michael Schumacher | Our ranking points: 31
Ayrton Senna | Our ranking points: 41
Juan Manuel Fangio | Our ranking points: 41
Max Verstappen | Our ranking points: 42
Alberto Ascari | Our ranking points: 42
Jim Clark | Our ranking points: 45
Fernando Alonso | Our ranking points: 46
Sebastian Vettel | Our ranking points: 47
Niki Lauda | Our ranking points: 50
Alain Prost | Our ranking points: 50
Kimi Raikkonen | Our ranking points: 50
Rubens Barrichello | Our ranking points: 50
Jackie Stewart | Our ranking points: 52
Lando Norris | Our ranking points: 52
Jenson Button | Our ranking points: 52

These ranking points could significantly change by the end of the 2024 F1 season if Verstappen continues his dominance. His impact on the sport is only going to grow and his legendary status is already cemented.

If you're predicting another fantastic season for Super-Max, check out our online betting markets and see how his odds for the season stack up against the top name on this list - Lewis Hamilton.