[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.

[Aysedasi]

Peterson for me, Max has along way to go yet.

[FIRE]

Verstappen

[VIVA GT]

Peterson

[Adam43]

That’s an unlucky draw for Max. He should have been happy with a non champion as you’d think he’d see many a non champ off and a couple of champs. But Peterson, ouch. Superfast and matched well against some strong team mates so there is a lot of rational reasons. Then factor in him being a top man and is also one for the romantics.

[chunterer]

Ronnie!!!

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Peterson for me, Max has along way to go yet.

I think this was at the heart of the question I was hoping to answer when I returned to the GOAT - has Verstappen done enough since the bracket was first completed to go further?

At the time of this match - Verstappen's record was:
119 races
10 wins
42 podiums

At the time of writing he is now on:
161 races
34 wins
76 podiums
2 WDCs

The intent had only been to open up the matches that involve current drivers, not to rehash the whole bracket. Would that mean he would now win a re-match? Would other drivers fair differently? Unfortunately, it seems that we are not allowed to find out the answer to if anything changes because people have missed the point that the 'OATs are 'just for fun'.

[S griffin]

In terms of natural talent, Peterson. In terms of the all round package, Verstappen.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

The intent had only been to open up the matches that involve current drivers, not to rehash the whole bracket. Would that mean he would now win a re-match? Would other drivers fair differently? Unfortunately, it seems that we are not allowed to find out the answer to if anything changes because people have missed the point that the 'OATs are 'just for fun'.

I certainly understand the point, however I'm not convinced that the enthusiasm is there to simply find out where Max ends up in the GOAT standings - as, to be honest, there are few other variables that have changed to any significant extent since we did it the first time.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I certainly understand the point, however I'm not convinced that the enthusiasm is there to simply find out where Max ends up in the GOAT standings - as, to be honest, there are few other variables that have changed to any significant extent since we did it the first time.

I appreciate that.

If I can just refer back to the comment you made in this thread initially - 'Max has along way to go yet'. In your opinion, has Max gone far enough in the last two seasons to move ahead of Peterson?

For me - I think his standing in the list of F1 drivers has climbed significantly.

[Aysedasi]

Yes, probably so.