Key doubt raised over Verstappen 'best ever' claim

Former F1 driver Romain Grosjean has raised doubts over whether Max Verstappen is the "best ever" driver in the history of the pinnacle of motorsport. 

Verstappen enters the 2025 season as the reigning world champion, with the Dutchman having won four consecutive titles. 

He has won 43 races since the start of the current regulations in 2022, and is viewed by many as the greatest driver F1 has ever seen. 

Grosjean does not doubt that the 27-year-old is one of the greatest, but is wary of labelling him as the all-right best in F1 history. 

The former Haas driver outlined Verstappen's remarkable strength of always finding maximum grip in all weather conditions, an ability which has won the Red Bull driver several races. 

However, Grosjean believes that drivers are only the best in the sport when they have the best car, putting him against naming Verstappen as the greatest on the grid and in F1 overall.

"That's a tough question, isn't it?" Grosjean pointed out on the F1 Nation podcast. "He's definitely one of the best ever. 

"There's no doubt about Max's ability to drive a car, drive it fast in every conditions. I think saying he's the best is difficult, because you are only the best if you are with the best car, but he's definitely an incredible driver no matter what car he's driving. 

"I think [one of his] strengths is that he always finds 100% pure grip no matter if it's raining, if it's cold, if it's hot, if it's new tyres, if it's old tyres.

"Whilst maybe some other drivers at some time [can only find] 90% grip, some other times 105%. It seems that with Max, it's never even 99.9% [grip], he always has 100.0%"