Damon Hill: “Verstappen is seen by everyone as unbeatable, as Schumacher was”

One step away from the record The podium conquered by Lando Norris in the last round of the 2025 world championship was enough for the British driver from McLaren to become world champion. A success that denied Max Verstappen the possibility not only of making a sensational comeback in the world championship standings, failing to do so by just two points, but also of completing his fifth consecutive world championship victory, as Michael Schumacher did from 2000 to 2004 with Ferrari. Talents compared A record that still belongs to the German, even if the talent of the Dutchman’s driver has been compared on several occasions to that of the ‘Kaiser’. Among these, there is the 1996 world champion Damon Hill, who fought with Schumacher in the mid-90s to win the world titles: “Lando Norris is now champion – he explained on the Drive to Wynn podcast giving an overview of the drivers present on the grid today – Oscar Piastri has shown that he has what it takes to become world champion, and we have other drivers on the track who have demonstrated their abilities and that they can reach the level of champions. Other high-level drivers are already in decline. Not I know how much longer Lewis Hamilton will last, but Fernando is still very good for his age. And then there’s Max Verstappen, who is seen by almost everyone today as practically unbeatable, like Michael Schumacher was. Of course, Max can be beaten, but the circumstances have to be perfect for his rivals. As a top driver, you don’t want to win a world championship where everyone says: ‘Well, the other drivers weren’t very good.’ Going into more detail on the comparison between Verstappen and Schumacher, the winner of 22 GPs in his career indicated the characteristics that two of the greatest talents in the history of F1 have in common: “Max is incredibly precise. Look at him in qualifying on a track like Suzuka, which is very fast and difficult. Max drives with millimeter precision and can push his car to the edge of the track. Every millimeter is necessary to find the ideal trajectory, and that’s exactly what he does. His precision is incredible. The His eyesight must be exceptional; I find it surprising considering how much time he spends in front of a computer screen, and for all his talent Max is only 28 years old. He is just entering his prime as a Formula 1 driver.”