Ex-Ferrari Manager Lauds Max Verstappen’s Quality That “Arrogant” Michael Schumacher Lacked

Sabyasachi Biswas
|Published Dec 10, 2023 05:00AM UTC

Former Ferrari manager Peter Windsor has recently compared Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen, two of F1’s greatest ever. While there was nothing to differentiate about the two world champion’s driving styles and talent, the veteran Australian nonetheless found a stark difference between the two. One thing that was pointed out in particular was that Verstappen is “arrogant”.

Windsor said on his own YouTube channel, “There is a huge difference in terms of craftsmanship on the circuit. Michael had a certain kind of arrogance about him, which Max doesn’t have at all. Max is razor sharp as a racer. He is a pure racer, while Michael had a certain arrogance that said: this is my circuit.”

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He added the example of the late Ayrton Senna, “A bit the same as the Senna arrogance: this is my piece of asphalt, and no one else comes on it. Max thinks more carefully about how he gets to that piece of asphalt.” Admittedly, Verstappen leads a plain life when he’s away from the paddock.

Verstappen is often found to be racing in a simulator with his friends online, or playing FIFA. Verstappen, being a racing nerd, it’s all about racing for him, throughout the year.

Windsor also pointed out how Max Verstappen can never be like Michael Schumacher

Max Verstappen is a three-time world champion, while Michael Schumacher took the title seven times. Even if the Dutchman takes four titles in the next few years, there is one sector where the Dutchman will not be able to reach the German’s level, believes Windsor.

Schumacher, back in his days had a leadership capability that he used to bring glory days at Ferrari. The German former driver, with Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, built the team to dominate the grid. This is something Windsor doesn’t see Verstappen would be doing in the future.

“He managed to bring good people from Benetton with him at a relatively young age. Together with Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, he built the entire team at Ferrari. He built Ferrari from scratch. Michael can take a lot of the credit for that, and went on to win five more championships,” said the former Ferrari manager.

On the other hand, Windsor sees Max Verstappen finishing his F1 career in Red Bull only. The 26-year-old has his contract signed with the team till the 2028 F1 season, and it’ll be interesting to see if he decides to extend, or go try out other racing ventures.

Post Edited By:Somin Bhattacharjee

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About the author

Sabyasachi Biswas

Sabyasachi Biswas is an F1 journalist at The SportsRush. With over one and a half decades of love for the sport and five years of experience in the field, he dreams to be a regular at the paddock when the lights go out. A Red Bull fan and F1 fan in general over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen dominate the track. Apart from F1, he's also a big-time Madridista and Federer fanatic. He was a sub-junior level footballer, won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak throughout, he tries different cuisines and learns new cultures whenever he's away from the keyboard.