today, 4:04 PM | by Mark Hanselman
Former world champion Jody Scheckter is very impressed by Max Verstappen’s performance. The South African became world champion 44 years ago, but still follows the sport. In an interview with the Italian La Gazzetta dello Sport, he extensively assessed the performance of the 26-year-old Limburger.
Scheckter was crowned world champion as a Ferrari driver in 1979, after which a long drought began for the Italian team until Michael Schumacher became his successor in 2000. ‘I still follow the races, and I really enjoy them, but some rules really don’t make sense. Nowadays there are just so many rules. You are no longer allowed to do this, and you are no longer allowed to do that,” the South African indicates.
As one of the last Ferrari world champions, he was particularly angry about the punishment Carlos Sainz received in Las Vegas after his car was destroyed by a manhole cover. “The system with grid penalties for the drivers is ridiculous,” says Scheckter. According to the 1979 champion, a driver is punished double with the current system. ‘You crash, and then you have to have the gearbox replaced, and then you also get a grid penalty, while you have already been punished for crashing and for breaking the gearbox. Why do you have to go further back on the grid?’ Scheckter wonders.
Checkered lyrically over Verstappen
The former driver of McLaren, Tyrrell, and Ferrari, among others, also reflected extensively on the dominance of Max Verstappen. ‘He’s really, really good, in my opinion one of the best of all time. If you look at Lewis Hamilton, for example, he was sometimes beaten by teammates,” Scheckter points out about the seven-time world champion, who finished behind George Russell in the championship in 2022 and ended the qualifying match with a draw this year.
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Scheckter points out an advantage of Verstappen compared to Hamilton.
‘It is impressive to see that no one at Red Bull seems to be able to get close to Max. Red Bull has built a great car, but it is really Verstappen who knows how to squeeze everything out, especially if you compare that with the results of Sergio Pérez,” said the 73-year-old. ‘Verstappen emerges in every situation, no matter how complicated the circumstances are. He can really read the races, and also understands what is happening behind him with the strategies.’
“Max is better than all the drivers of my own time,” Scheckter continues. This places Verstappen above drivers such as Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, and Mario Andretti. ‘The difference is that people often say that it was real men who risked their lives. I also realize that I was lucky. My greatest success is that I stayed alive,” says the world champion. “I was never even taken to the hospital by helicopter.”
Verstappen turned the switch
Although Scheckter is now very complimentary of Verstappen, things were sometimes different in the Dutchman’s younger years. ‘At the beginning of my career I also took more risks, just like Max did. I didn’t like how he drove at the beginning of his career because he showed no respect for the other drivers. Then the penny dropped, and he saw that you don’t win races and certainly not championships if you cause incidents and crashes with other cars.’
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2023-12-20 15:04:00
#Ferrari #world #champion #places #Verstappen #Hamilton #beaten
