“Superb” Max Verstappen one of the all-time greats at just 27 years old, says British Le Mans winner

Former F1 driver Mark Blundell has shared his opinion on Max Verstappen after he won his fourth consecutive World Championship last week. He said the Dutchman is one of the greatest drivers in the sport's history.

Verstappen added a fourth title to his cabinet after the 2024 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Although Red Bull did not dominate the grid like the previous two seasons, the 27-year-old held his position at the top with consistent deliveries during the races, extracting the most out of the RB20.

Blundell competed in Formula 1 between 1991 and 1995 and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1992. He feels Verstappen is one of the sport's greatest drivers. When asked by casinoapps.com if this was his (Verstappen's) "most satisfying win" given his car's performance, he mentioned that it was his "best season."

"Yeah. I mean he’s still a young guy, remarkable in many ways that he’s got the maturity to do what he’s done with four titles under his belt. And he certainly is up there with the greats now. There is no denying that. I think from my side, I would say this has been probably his best season because I think it’s a season that he’s had to dig deep."

Max Verstappen remained winless between the Spanish GP (round 10) and Brazil (Round 21). Yet, he was able to keep himself in the lead of the standings through consistent performances. While his teammate fell out of points at multiple occasions, Verstappen was within the top 6 in all the races with 0 DNFs.

Mark Blundell mentioned this as he further discussed the issues that Red Bull internally faced. He said:

"He’s had to contend with not having the best car of the day on so many occasions, pulling out the bag some outstanding performances, but at the same time having some of that frequency going on in the background with the team and politics and also not really having a secondary support system there with a strong drive on his teammates side, because that really hasn’t been beneficial for him in many ways."

Hence, he feels that Max Verstappen has been nothing short of "superb" in the 2024 F1 season.

"So that’s also something that would have played into other people’s hands and other teams where they’ve had some situations where they can change drivers around and get some support in that situation. So yeah, I think Max has been nothing short of superb."

---

Max Verstappen set to miss free practice session in Qatar

Red Bull confirmed earlier that Max Verstappen will not be behind his RB20 during FP1 in Qatar. Formula 2 driver Isack Hadjar is set to replace him. He has been RBR's test driver for the past two seasons. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez also stepped out of his car at Silverstone, handing it over to Hadjar.

According to regulations, all teams on the grid are supposed to hand over their cars to junior drivers on Friday during two separate occasions in a season. With two races remaining in the season, Red Bull will fulfill their duty, giving Max Verstappen's car to Hadjar. He is running with Campos in F2 and is currently 2nd in the standings.