Neither Lewis Hamilton nor Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari icon picks Max Verstappen as the best driver since Michael Schumacher

One of Ferrari's true icons and someone who was part of the team's success for decades, Gino Rosato, has picked Max Verstappen as the best F1 driver since Michael Schumacher. The choice does come as a surprise, since the German's retirement there have been some great talents in the sport, including Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel.

Yet, according to Gino, it is Verstappen who takes the cake. The Dutchman joined the F1 grid in 2015 and has since graduated and climbed the ranks of the grid's pecking order in a manner that few have achieved.

Since his first title triumph in 2021, Max Verstappen has just taken over as the class of the field and has been recognized as such by the grid as well. By 2025, he already is a four-time world champion and is yet to lose his title (he most likely will this season).

During his appearance on the Pitstop podcast, Gino Rosato was talking about the Verstappen family and how Jos was a tough guy but had brought up his son Max the hard way and built him into this beast of a racer that was arguably the best since Michael Schumacher. He said,

“Jos Verstappen is a tough guy, I wouldn't advise anyone to mess with Jos. And what can you say to him? Criticize him for raising one of the greatest beasts (in terms of sport) to ever arrive in F1? I often see so many parents overprotect their children, saying, ‘Poor thing, he needs this, he needs that.’ Jos, on the other hand, is old school."

He added,

"With Max, he simply made his son face the fact that if he wanted to be the best, he had to accept what it meant to try to become one of the best drivers ever seen in F1, and since Michael Schumacher retired, Max is undoubtedly the best driver to have arrived in F1.”

Gino Rosato praises Max Verstappen and his father and the way they build relationships

Something that has stood out for the Max Verstappen family has been the fact that they tend to be very loyal to the people they are very close to. This is something that we can see with how Helmut Marko is with the family as well. Gino also mentioned the same as he said,

“I could text Max or Jos Verstappen right now and get a reply within two minutes. They're real people; they don't act based on how much money or how much profit they can make from forming a relationship with another person."

It is interesting to see that Max Verstappen and his family have built these relationships across the grid and continue to have people who hold him in high regard.