Martin Brundle makes feelings clear on F1 GOAT debate after Max Verstappen wins title in Las Vegas
Martin Brundle believes Max Verstappen has to be included in the F1 GOAT debate after the Red Bull driver won another World Championship on Sunday.
Despite finishing fifth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, it was enough for the Dutchman to secure glory for the fourth year in a row.
Verstappen hasn’t always had things his own way, with Lando Norris often pushing him hard.
But the 26-year-old remains unparallelled and his latest triumph is proof of his prowess and how he’s simply too good for the rest of the chasing pack.
Brundle, speaking after Verstappen’s triumph, has now expressed a belief that the 27-year-old is right up there with the greatest drivers the sport has ever seen.
The Sky Sports pundit said: “He’s been an integral part of Red Bull achieving a dominant status.
“He has fearless speed and talent to spare and a strong head to go with it.
“If you’re having a conversation about the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, you simply have to include Max.”
Brundle does think, however, that it’s still early for Verstappen to be dubbed the very ‘best’ ahead of the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.
“You’ll make your own minds up, for me, it’s too early to call him the greatest,” he said.
Verstappen was jubilant after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the Dutchman celebrating wildly with his team.
It is yet another glittering moment in his career and he says he’s ‘proud’ of his latest achievement.
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“It feels great, of course I mean it’s been a very long season,” he said.
“Many races, many good races but also many tough races. It was all about optimising, trying, sometimes, to limit the damage.
“But at the end of the day, just very proud of what we have achieved.”
On whether he ever doubted his chances of glory, the Red Bull star continued: “I mean I never really liked to believe so but of course at times it looked very tough.
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“I didn’t want to give up at all. That’s not how I am anyway.
“At times it was not easy with the car, clear lack of pace in places, but we managed to get the best result out of it or sometimes even more than what we deserved.
“At the end of the day, most of the time, you create your own luck, and I think that’s what we did most of the time.”
As for Norris, the McLaren star admitted it ‘hurt’ having to congratulate Verstappen after pushing his rival hard throughout the campaign.
“Congrats to Max, as much as it hurts a little bit, saying congrats doesn’t hurt, but knowing the championship is 100 per cent over you always have a little hope inside,” he admitted.
“He drove an incredible season and when you have the quickest car he dominated and when he didn’t he was still there and always on my heels.
“He made my life tough, we made his tough at times I’m sure but he drove a better season.
“The race was pretty pants, bad pace, grip, tyre management, just a poor weekend from us.”