Johnny Herbert believes that F1 fans should be revelling in Max Verstappen’s current dominance of the sport in a similar manner to which golf fans enjoyed the performances of golf icon Tiger Woods. The Dutchman won his third race of the season at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.
Following the immense 2021 title fight between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, fans hoped that the new ground-effect era cars would help usher in a new age of competitive, wheel-to-wheel action. Instead, Mercedes’ competitiveness has dropped off, and Red Bull have stamped their authority on the rest of the field.
Aside from some close battles between Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the beginning of the 2022 campaign, it has been smooth sailing for the 26-year-old, who has added three World Championships to his collection.
Verstappen’s domination has been so comprehensive that since taking to the top step of the French Grand Prix podium in July 2022, only six races have been won by another driver, and three of those victories were achieved by his team-mate Sergio Perez. The now processional nature of F1 races is beginning to turn casual fans away from the sport.
However, Herbert believes that this is an injustice to Verstappen. Speaking to Inclave Casino about the current state of F1, he said: “When Tiger Woods was at the top of his game, we all enjoyed it. His skill levels were phenomenal. We could see it and it was fascinating to watch every shot he made.
“He was way ahead of the field. Everybody enjoyed that and in the same way, they should enjoy Max. He is unbelievable. It is up to the other teams to provide a package that their drivers can have to challenge him.
“But behind Max, it is very tight between the other drivers with only about two or three-tenths of a second down to about eight or ninth place. But there is this one man who is so dominant. Roger Federer was the same at his peak. It is a skill and you can’t take away from that and say that it is boring.”
While it is undeniable that the quality of his machinery has helped Verstappen on his quest for domination, the minuscule gaps to team-mate Perez during qualifying in Japan demonstrate that the Dutchman’s current results are the product of a driver working at the absolute peak of his talents.
