Former F1 driver makes staggering Verstappen claim

Former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari has labelled Max Verstappen as the greatest driver the sport has ever seen.

Verstappen, currently in his 11th F1 campaign, has spiralled up the record books in recent years amid his success with Red Bull.

The Dutchman has the third-most wins in F1 history, trailing only Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

His four world championships place him in exclusive company as only one of only six drivers to have reached such a figure.

His achievements have drawn the praise of Alguersuari, who has 46 race starts to his name with the Toro Rosso team.

“We have to understand Max probably is the best driver ever in F1,” Alguersuari told Talksport. 

“And that's because of his whole education, because of his whole experience, his whole mindset, it’s unbelievable to see what he did in Australia [at the opening round of the season] and especially driving a car which is not at all the best on the grid. 

“He's just able to drive with every kind of situation or problem in a better way than anybody else. And that's it. It's simple. 

“[It’s his] intelligence, how he reads the car, how he feels the car, how he manages the tyres, the race, how he performs when he's out of the car and understands the dynamics.

“It's a lot in Formula 1. It's a lot of work going out behind the scenes. When you take your helmet off, you go back to the factory and you want to make sure how you want this car to perform and how do you want this car to be set up.

“How do you understand the dynamics of the car when you are out of the car. So there's a lot of things going on when you remove your helmet.”

No one able to beat Verstappen at Red Bull - Alguersuari

Red Bull has long been struggling to place a competitive team-mate alongside Verstappen, with various drivers failing to match his pace.

Its latest attempt in Liam Lawson lasted just two races as the New Zealander has been dropped ahead of this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.

Yuki Tsunoda has been chosen as Red Bull's latest driver to line up alongside Verstappen with his Red Bull debut coming at his home race.

However, Alguersuari asserted no driver is capable of beating Max Verstappen at the Milton Keynes-based squad.

“This is something out of every driver's dimension,” he said. 

“So whoever you put in this car beside Max is not going to look great. Probably would look a bit closer. But I don't think anyone in the grid would beat Max.

“I don't personally think that he [Lawson] would naturally beat Max because I think Max is in a different dimension. But as I said, it's not just Liam, it's against everyone.”