"It's not Kyle Larson's fault": IndyCar veteran makes opinion clear on Max Verstappen vs. NASCAR star debate

The Kyle Larson vs Max Verstappen debate has been raging on since mid-2024 when the Dutchman first took the high road by explaining how everyone is good in their own discipline and that the comparison shouldn't be happening. Larson however came out and claimed that he is a better all-round racer than Verstappen, which stirred a debate in the motorsport community.

The debate, however, settled down after a couple of months with the Red Bull driver suggesting “it's fine” and giving no concrete reply or comeback at the NASCAR driver. James Hinchcliffe appeared on The Red Flags podcast and was asked about the Kyle Larson vs Max Verstappen debate. He said [31:11 onwards]:

“Look, I know Kyle, I have an incredible amount of respect for Kyle as a racing driver. But there's just no chance. So here's the thing. This is how I try to settle this argument.

"If you want to see who's the best, you take the top. Let's say the top five series in the world. So let's say it's F1 or IndyCar, like a high downforce open wheel car, a stock car, say a sports car, a prototype sports car, a GT style sports car, and then what, like a rally car?"

Hinchcliffe claimed that across those five disciplines, Verstappen would win in four.

"And it's not, it's not Kyle's fault. If you made those five cars, a cup car, a Craftsman truck, a 410 sprint car, you know, a midget and a late modified, Kyle would win 5 out of 5.

“But to try to compare to what Max does or what he would be capable of in those particular cars, like it's not even a conversation,” he added. [32:17]

Max Verstappen is a four-time F1 champion, an avid sim racer, and won the 2024 24 Hours of Nurburgring on iRacing. The Dutchman also tested the Ferrari 296 driven by Thierry Vermeulen as team engineer Graziano Michelacci was shocked by Verstappen’s improvement as he said, “He improved his lap times in a way that doesn't exist in real life.”

Kyle Larson drives for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup series and won the championship in 2021. The American will be driving in the upcoming Chili Brown Nationals and won the Super Bowl of Midget Racing in 2020 and 2021.

---

When Kyle Larson claimed he is “better than” Max Verstappen

Kyle Larson came out in August 2024 to suggest that he is better than Max Verstappen when it comes to racing outside an open-wheel racing car like F1 or IndyCar. The NASCAR driver claimed he could beat the Dutchman in any other racing series as he sat down with FloRacing for an interview. Larson said:

"I know in my mind I am better than him as an all-around driver. There’s no way he can go win the Chili Bowl. There’s no way he can go win a Cup race at Bristol. There’s probably no way I can go win a Formula 1 race at Monaco, but I think I’d have a better shot doing what he does than him doing what I do just because of the car element.”

Kyle Larson made the claims on August 14th and Max Verstappen replied to the same on August 22 suggesting it's fine and that everyone thinks their own way.