Formula 1 Magazine columnist Robin Frijns highly values Max Verstappen’s fourth world title, rating it higher than last year’s. “This one is different from starting, driving away, cigar in mouth, and driving to the finish,” he says.
“Last year,” Frijns says, “we saw Max’s title coming after about six or seven races. The only question left was: who would come second? I think the sport lost some fans at the time because it all seemed so easy and there was little tension. At the beginning of this year, I thought it would be another year like that. But Max really had to fight hard for this title. Personally, I would value this one more than last year’s, but of course, it depends on how you look at it.”
“When a championship is so close, you’ve had a breakdown in Australia, the car is slower, there’s more pressure, and you still come out as the winner, I think that gives more satisfaction. At least, it would give me more satisfaction. Winning a title in that way is different from starting, driving away, cigar in mouth, and driving to the finish. But of course, I can’t judge how Max sees it.”
‘Max now belongs to the Big Five’
Frijns continues: “What I can judge is that Max now belongs to the ‘Big Five’ of Formula 1, along with Fangio, Senna, Michael Schumacher, and Hamilton. Not Vettel, no. He had a car that went like a rocket. Okay, you could say: Max had that too. But Vettel, I think, was exposed a bit at Ferrari. Look, Alonso always says: you only see how good a driver is when he’s in a worse car. Well, Max had that this year. And yet he wins the title. Because he scored points he really shouldn’t have been able to score.
