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Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone recently claimed that there was one driver who was even more merciless and ruthless than Max Verstappen. That driver was none other than the legendary Michael Schumacher.
Ecclestone knew Schumacher well since he was the star of the sport when Ecclestone was at the helm of Formula 1.
Speaking to the German wing of Sky Sports, he praised Max Verstappen by saying that he sees hints of Schumacher in the young Dutchman. However, he also pointed out that the legendary driver was much more ruthless than Verstappen and that he did not think of compromising anything.
"Verstappen has a bit of Schumacher in him. But I must say that Max is not as ruthless as Michael was. Michael didn't even think of compromising," Bernie Ecclestone said.
Of course, Max Verstappen is far behind Michael Schumacher, who has seven world championships to his name and is considered one of the best in the sport. However, the Red Bull driver has broken quite a few records that were set by the German.
F1 pundit draws parallels between Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen's driving styles
A few months ago, F1 pundit Edd Straw drew an interesting parallel between Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen's driving styles. He explained how Schumacher used to like a car with a sharp and sensitive front end. Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, Straw said:
"Fundamentally, Benetton was built around Schumacher, galvanized around Schumacher, because he was so good. And what Schumacher could do is deal with a car which was very pointy and responsive."
He further added that this trait can be seen with Verstappen as well. Red Bull built their car, which had an extremely sensitive front end, around the Dutchman. Hence, he is able to master the art of controlling it, while other drivers alongside him usually struggle.
"That's the common thing with Schumacher. He had a car which was very much set up to work for that star, which can be quicker but is very, very difficult to do. Max Verstappen is another similar example to this day," Straw said.
"So I think you have a team that is built around a driver with a set of car characteristics, fast but tricky, the best driver will always be the one on whom the team focuses on."
Verstappen obliterated the entire field in 2023 by winning 19 out of 22 races. He scored 575 points and clinched his third consecutive world championship.
