[Driver] The GOAT - Round One - Verstappen.M vs Peterson

[crmalcolm]

The sixth match-up in Round One sees Verstappen.M vs Peterson.

So who do you vote for as the greater driver?

Max Verstappen
Given his extraordinary talent and young age, many feel it is only a matter of time before Verstappen lands in the right car to challenge for titles.

One of the clearest indicators of Verstappen’s talent is his wet weather ability. His brilliant drive at Brazil 2016 was a declaration of intent, and in Germany 2019 he became the first driver other than Lewis Hamilton to win a wet race since 2014. On the other hand, Verstappen has crashed out of 3 of his 9 wet starts to date, demonstrating that there are still rough edges to be refined. This is one of the few respects in which Max can be compared to his father Jos Verstappen, who could also shine in the wet but crashed out of 8 of his 20 wet starts. By comparison, Hamilton has crashed out of just 3 of his 35 wet starts.

Verstappen debuted in F1 at the age of 17, making him the youngest driver to start an F1 race. His junior career was the one of the shortest in F1 history, spanning only one full year in single-seaters between go-karts and F1. As happened previously with Kimi Räikkönen and Jenson Button, the early debut of Verstappen led to significant debate about driver entry criteria and refinement of the superlicense rules for entry to F1, with future drivers now required to be at least 18 years old. Verstappen’s age-experience trajectory is therefore unique, as shown below. Verstappen will complete his fifth F1 season at just 22. The youngest age at which any other driver has reached this level of experience is 24. Verstappen’s career therefore has unique potential for longevity.

Ronnie Peterson
During his F1 career, Ronnie Peterson was widely considered one of the greatest raw talents in the sport’s history. His exceptional car control and devastating qualifying pace made him an obvious fan favorite. At his peak (1971-1974), he dominated the rookie Niki Lauda 6-1 in counting races, 10-2 in qualifying, and 12-0 in points. He closely matched reigning world champion Emerson Fittipaldi 3-3 in counting races, 11-4 in qualifying, and 52-55 in points (despite worse reliability). Across 1974-1975, he also dominated Jacky Ickx 7-3 in counting races, 21-3 in qualifying, and 38-15 in points.

From the mid-1970s onwards, Peterson’s driving performance clearly tailed off. In 1977, racing the uncompetitive Tyrrell P34B, he scored against teammate Patrick Depailler 3-2 in counting races, 8-9 in qualifying, and 7-20 in points. The following season, in the dominant Lotus, he was a clear number two to Mario Andretti, beaten 2-8 in counting races, 3-11 in qualifying, and 51-64 in points, before he sadly died following an injury sustained at the 1978 Italian GP.