Bernie Ecclestone has changed his mind. Whenever he was asked about the best Formula 1 driver of all time, the now 92-year-old answered not with Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher, but with Alain Prost. But now Ecclestone thinks that Verstappen has replaced the “Professor” from France as historical number 1.
“Max is the best driver. Without a doubt,” says the former head of the premier class in an interview with the Daily Mail. “I’ve always said Alain Prost. Now I’d say Max. He’s the greatest. He’s the best at getting the most out of the car. He doesn’t complain, he does his thing.”
Ecclestone therefore also believes that Verstappen’s achievements in the historical context should be ranked higher than those of Lewis Hamilton, even though the Mercedes driver has won seven world championship titles so far and Verstappen is “only” on the verge of winning his third.
“Max is one of us”
“Lewis is obviously super, super smart and super, super talented. He understands people and gets the best out of them, while Max gets the best out of the car. And Lewis is completely different to Max. When Lewis stops racing “, he can enter a new world – the entertainment business, whatever. That’s a path Max can’t take,” says Ecclestone.
“Max is one of us. Nobody in Formula 1 floats in the same spheres as Lewis. In his early days he was a little different than others. I was quite short when I was at school and that shapes you. It was the same with Lewis like that. But he was supported by his father.”
Ecclestone believes this has a lot to do with how Hamilton has grown as a personality over the years: “If you’re a little smaller or otherwise an outsider, you have to look after yourself. You might have to be a fighter. That “You see that quite often in business.”
“Max is the best I’ve ever seen”
The former head of Formula 1 also thinks George Russell is “super talented”, but at the same time criticizes Hamilton’s current teammate: “I think he doesn’t think through his races as well as Lewis does.” And Ecclestone praises McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri as “very good”. But: “Max is the best I’ve ever seen.”
Bernie Ecclestone, 92, was managing director and absolute ruler of Formula 1 until January 2017. He retired after the sport was taken over by the American media group Liberty Media.
While he was initially honorary chairman of Formula 1, this title was withdrawn from him in 2020. Today he is considered persona non grata in Liberty circles.