F1 News: "Max Verstappen Is Better Than Lewis Hamilton" Says Insider

An Ex-F1 driver's statements about Max being better than Hamilton, Schumacher, and Senna may not go well with many F1 fans.

Some startling and bold set of statements came from ex-F1 driver Johnny Herbert who spoke very highly of Max Verstappen but compared him to Lewis Hamilton and other F1 legends. 

Though many of you may view this from a plain sportsman-to-sportsman comparison perspective, this mostly won't go well with ardent fans who could bring up their set of arguments to the claim made by Herbert. 

Max Verstappen is on course to win his third title in a row. He recently claimed his ninth win of the season at the Hungaroring which gives him a 110 points lead to teammate Sergio Perez. The achievement will thus push him ahead of Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel into third in the all-time Formula 1 winner's list. 

Coming back to Herbert who has won three races in his F1 career. The ex-F1 British driver thinks that Verstappen would be considered the greatest driver in the history of Formula 1. He said:

“Max Verstappen is a once in a generational talent. There is always one individual who comes along who is better than the last – not withstanding the technological advances.

"Max will be better than Lewis [Hamilton], Lewis was better than Michael Schumacher, and Schumacher was better than Senna. It just evolves.

"Max has grown up so much as a driver. He just doesn’t fly away into the distance. He will judge it and do just what he needs to do. 

"That is the change from the Max of old. Because of that I do not see anyone yet getting themselves on to the same level as Red Bull.

"A bad day for Max was second. A bad day for him now is first!”

Herbert didn't stop at comparing the old Max Verstappen with the new one. He went a step further to explain that the exit of Lewis Hamilton would not make much difference to Mercedes since George Russell is fit enough to take his place. He revealed:

“It would not be the end of the world because they have got George Russell. I think he is more than capable of taking over if he had to because he fits in brilliantly, he is mature and he has got the speed that is needed."

I'm not sure if this was some sort of an intentional Hamilton bashing session or just a set of comments coming from an experienced racing driver. All I know is that along with the drivers, Formula 1 too has evolved over the years with the addition of racetracks, teams, and sponsors. 

So just like we don't compare the F1 of the 90s vs F1 now, it would be pointless to compare today's racing driver with another racing driver from three decades ago who was a hero in the eyes of the people of his country- someone like Senna. Legends will always be irreplaceable and incomparable in my opinion.