Max Verstappen has been on a victory run over the last couple of races, but two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen believes there is only two drivers that could stop him.
The Brazilian Grand Prix was one of the few races that Red Bull did not win last year, after George Russell managed to take Mercedes only win of the year.
Red Bull has won every race apart from the Singapore GP this year, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez taking a combined 18 wins.
Could there be more opportunities for drivers to deny Verstappen a chance to extend his win record to 17 this year? Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen thinks there can only be two challengers.
The two drivers that can stop Verstappen
In my opinion there are two drivers who can stop Max Verstappen from winning the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend – Lewis Hamilton or Lando Norris,” Hakkinen told Unibet.
Verstappen stands a chance of eclipsing Alberto Ascari’s 71-year win percentage record of 77.27%, if he takes another victory on Sunday.
Max is aiming for his 17th victory of the season, but given the way Lewis and Lando are driving right now, Hakkinen speculated that they might cause issues for Red Bull.
“I thought they both drove really well in Mexico; they have a genuine fire in their driving, and anything can happen if they can carry that momentum into Interlagos.”
Does not matter where Verstappen starts.
As has been seen throughout the 2023 season, Verstappen has been able to start a low down as sixth on the grid and still win a race by a comfortable margin.
Hakkinen believes this outright performance is what sets him apart from the rest, after winning the same amount of races as the Finn contested during his 1998 and 1999 championship-winning seasons.
It’s astounding to consider that Max has won 16 races, which is the same amount of races that, back when I was winning my two titles, made up the World Championship.” Hakkinen stated.
“Max can be on pole or, as we witnessed in Mexico, in a lower grid position; it makes no difference. He is skilled at extracting the car’s performance, which makes it capable of winning every time.”