"The unbeatable one is Verstappen": Max Verstappen singled out as the key factor of Red Bull's success by F1 pundit

Max Verstappen has been singled out as the reason behind Red Bull's unbeatable run by former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve. The young driver has been on an impressive run ever since he got his hands on a title-contending car. The driver fought closely for his first title in 2021 against Lewis Hamilton.

The 2022 F1 season saw regulations change and Mercedes falling out of contention. It also witnessed Ferrari emerge as a race-winning contender. After an early stumble with two DNFs in four races, Max Verstappen was able to overcome the challenge from Charles Leclerc to win the 2022 title with ease. The 2023 F1 season has been a cruise compared to the last two.

The car advantage is significant and hence Max Verstappen has won all but three of the 17 races this season. Talking about Max and Red Bull, Jacques Villeneuve felt that it was the driver who had turned Red Bull into this juggernaut. Talking about the key to the Dutch driver's success, Jacques felt that the training from his father Jos played a huge role. He told La Gazzetta dello Sport,

"It’s wrong to say Red Bull is unbeatable. The unbeatable one is Verstappen. His strength is that he was never a child – he was mature even when he was little. He was created to be a champion by a father who was very hard on him. The truth is that, today, Max does not have a single weakness."

Talking about Max Verstappen's former teammate Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, the former world champion was quite complimentary as he said,

“I like what Sainz is doing, because he always improves and has always helped the teams he raced for. But drivers today are too protected, they should be left more free – even to make mistakes."

Villeneuve's dig at Max Verstappen's former teammate

Villeneuve took at Verstappen's former teammate Daniel Ricciardo as well. The Canadian said that he would ask kids if they pursue the sport out of passion or if they want to do it for commercial reasons like Ricciardo. He said,

“I would ask kids who want to be drivers today – do you want it out of passion or because you want to be like Daniel Ricciardo, smiling in commercials?”

Ricciardo will make a return to F1 this weekend after he injured his wrist at Zandvoort. The Australian has five races to impress Red Bull, in case the team makes up their mind about replacing Sergio Perez on the senior team.