"Schumacher was always helped by his teammate" - Max Verstappen has much tougher competition than Michael Schumacher, feels F1 pundit

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico
Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing attends the press conference after the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 30, 2022 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Dutch driver Tom Coronel believes that Max Verstappen is not helped by his teammate, which was not true for Michael Schumacher. While speaking on the RacingNews365 F1 podcast, hosts Joris Mosterdijk, Coronel, and Ruud Dimmers hailed Max Verstappen as the best driver on the current grid.

While discussing Verstappen's incredible milestone of 14 wins in a single season, the trio revealed how the Dutchman needs to win the last two races to equalize Schumacher in terms of percentage. Coronel then claimed:

"He will also take that percentage. This competition this year is much tougher than in Schumacher's period. Schumacher was initially always helped by his teammate. Rubens Barrichello was very clearly second fiddle. That is not the case here. If Perez leads the way, he gives him not finished, while in the past everything was put on Michael Schumacher by Ross Brawn and Jean Todt. 'Huppatee, aside'."

Dimmers also made a comparison between Schumacher and Max Verstappen. He concluded that the Dutchman is a little better under all circumstances:

"Like Schumacher, Max has something that makes him better under all circumstances. The downside that Schumacher sometimes had was that if he could become champion he drove dragons of races: he struggled with tension, let the car stall on the grid, we saw ferocious overtakes. And with Max that's just all gone at the moment. Max, of course, also had moments last year inspired by tension and where tempers sometimes rose a little higher than was right. But Max is potentially someone who can break all records, only then you have to be a bit lucky with the car."

Max Verstappen clinched his second world title in a row in 2022. The driver won 10 races last year but broke several records as he won the Mexican GP as his 14th race this year.


Red Bull boss believes Max Verstappen's achievements need to be recognized more

Red Bull's Christian Horner claimed that driver Max Verstappen's achievements are not as recognized as they should be. Claiming that he is doing something special in the sport, he believes the Dutch prodigy was fiercely dominant this year.

Horner, while speaking to RacingNews365, was very praiseworthy of the 25-year-old's campaign this year:

"We've had the years of Mercedes dominance, but now we saw perhaps the most impressive campaign from one individual. He won the most races and on top of that two sprint races and not all of them from pole position. He had to do it. racing and fighting for and looking back at the year you can only conclude that it was an excellent season."

Red Bull's RB-18 had a shaky start at the beginning of the year. However, the car kept improving with upgrades as Verstappen proved to be monumental.

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