"He’s brilliant and divisive" - Max Verstappen compared to Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher by David Coulthard

Former F1 driver David Coulthard feels that Max Verstappen is “brilliant and divisive” in his driving, similar to multiple F1 world champions Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

In an interview with Channel4 News, the former Red Bull driver said:

“He (Verstappen) is an exceptional human, an exceptional athlete. He’s brilliant and divisive.”

“Who else do we know that’s brilliant and divisive? Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, to name but a few. So, some have been able to do it.”

“With the might of Mercedes and Lewis (Hamilton), Max has had to arguably come with a different approach. His approach is, whenever there is a door partially open, he’ll go for it.”

“When I was racing, I used to weigh up ‘should I risk it now, should I not risk it.’ He just goes for it. It really is quite special.”

Max Verstappen clinched his first F1 world championship earlier this month after beating Lewis Hamilton in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

Throughout the 2021 season, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were engaged in an intense battle for the title, with the championship lead switching back and forth all season.

The duo has finished in the top two in 14 out of 22 races this season. They were often seen fighting closely, battling each other, while being a dozen or so seconds ahead of the third-best driver.

Max Verstappen has, however, shown better consistency of the two, with more wins (10) and pole positions (10) to his name. Furthermore, the Dutchman also broke the record for most podiums in a single season with 18. He also led more laps (652) than Hamilton and the rest of the grid combined (297).

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David Coulthard claims Max Verstappen “got in the psyche” of Lewis Hamilton

David Coulthard has claimed that Max Verstappen got into Lewis Hamilton’s psyche, leading to the latter being nervous while racing the former. Coulthard feels that Hamilton is prone to leave Verstappen with more space and “open the door” while racing wheel-to-wheel.

In the aforementioned interview, the veteran F1 driver said:

“He (Verstappen) fears nobody. That’s not a part of his psyche. The thing that I find most impressive is, if there’s a gap, he goes for it. There’s not even a doubt.

“And Lewis (Hamilton) has to keep opening up the door because he knows he’s coming and that’s got in the psyche of Lewis.”

“In fairness to Lewis, he’s been able to win an amazing amount of championships in a very clean way. He hasn’t really had too much controversy.”

“Max has had to fight for it and has been a winner all the way through, skipping some of the lower formulas to come into Formula 1.”

Max Verstappen has, oftentimes throughout the season, been aggressive while battling Hamilton for the lead, with varying levels of success. The first two races in Bahrain and Imola are perfect examples.

In Bahrain, Max Verstappen’s impatience led him to overtake a vulnerable Hamilton off the track and cost him an easy victory. Meanwhile, at Imola, Verstappen's aggression paid off when he daringly edged Hamilton out of the race lead and went on to record his first victory of the season.

Verstappen, however, has also been criticized for his “unyielding” attitude while racing hard, which has cost both himself and Hamilton on occasions, with Silverstone and Monza being the prime examples.

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