{"id":207307,"date":"2025-10-12T07:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T07:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/207307\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T07:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T07:16:07","slug":"max-verstappen-by-far-the-number-one-f1-driver-as-former-ferrari-chief-weighs-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/207307\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen \u2018by far the number one\u2019 F1 driver as former Ferrari chief weighs in"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who is the best driver in the Formula 1 paddock? For former Ferrari head Luca di Montezemolo, there\u2019s only one answer to that question: Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Montezemolo shared his high praise of Verstappen<\/a> during the premiere of new film\u00a0Luca: Seeing Red when asked if he\u2019d hire Verstappen to his race team today.<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen is Formula 1\u2019s \u2018number one\u2019<\/p>\n

Formula 1 has often stood apart as the premier form of international open-wheel racing, the place where the world\u2019s greatest racers come to prove their merit. To win a World Championship in the sport is to cement one\u2019s place in the history books \u2014 and Max Verstappen will no doubt go down in history as one of the greatest of his generation.<\/p>\n

After making his F1 debut back in 2015 with Toro Rosso \u2014 at the tender age of just 17 \u2014 the driver was promoted to Red Bull Racing midway through 2016, where he went on to win his very first race.<\/p>\n

Since then, Verstappen has secured 67 victories en route to four consecutive championships. While his 2025 season has been a challenge, though, the Dutch driver\u2019s back-to-back victories in Italy and Azerbaijan once again reasserted his ability to perform.<\/p>\n

While he\u2019s still separated from title leader Oscar Piastri by 63 points, the driver managed to make significant headway in those two events and remains a challenger for the title should McLaren fumble.<\/p>\n

More on Max Verstappen\u2019s 2025 title chances:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Zero to 100%? Norris and Russell weigh in on Verstappen title chances<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Max Verstappen delivers Singapore Grand Prix prediction in pursuit of title<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s that skill that has endeared Verstappen to former Ferrari chairman and Scuderia team principal Luca di Montezemolo.<\/p>\n

A clip of Montezemolo praising Verstappen at The Whiteley during the debut of Luca: Seeing Red\u00a0has made the rounds on social media.<\/p>\n

The film screening, hosted by Everyman cinema, featured a panel hosted by former \u2018Top Gear\u2019 host Chris Harris speaking with the legendary Ferrari figure; Harris asked Montezemolo if he would hire Max Verstappen as his driver today.<\/p>\n

Montezemolo didn\u2019t hesitate to laud the reigning champion with praise.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I have to say for me, Verstappen is by far the number one,\u201d the former Ferrari head stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you see Verstappen, even in the last race, in difficult conditions, he never loses control, he was always quick, he never makes mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was fantastic also in go-kart. When he was 13 years old, was super, super strong in go-kart.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me today, Versappen is by far the number one. The couple between Sainz and Leclerc was a very good couple \u2014 but no question. Verstappen is by far the best in my view. By far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montezemolo referred to the Ferrari duo of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc, who teamed up at Ferrari between 2021 and 2024, after which point Sainz was replaced by Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf tomorrow morning I will be obliged to go to work in Ferrari, in one week I have clear in my mind who to put in different positions,\u201d Montezemolo continued during that premiere. It\u2019s no doubt Verstappen would be the first name on that list.<\/p>\n

Read next:\u00a0Gianpiero Lambiase avoids Max Verstappen approach which would \u2018lose him within months\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who is the best driver in the Formula 1 paddock? For former Ferrari head Luca di Montezemolo, there\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,818,825,44,17165,918,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-207307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-home-page","14":"tag-max-verstappen","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-popular","17":"tag-red-bull","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}