{"id":64948,"date":"2025-08-12T21:42:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/64948\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T21:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:42:08","slug":"verstappen-the-best-driver-this-year-analyst-says-as-he-snubs-mclaren-duo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/64948\/","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen the best driver this year, analyst says as he snubs McLaren duo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/formula-1\" title=\"Formula 1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Formula 1<\/a>\u2019s summer break now underway, it\u2019s the perfect moment to reflect on the first half of the season. For analyst Olav Mol, one driver has stood head and shoulders above the rest: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/f1-drivers\/max-verstappen\" title=\"Max Verstappen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Max Verstappen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to the 63-year-old, Verstappen has been the standout performer on the entire grid so far \u2014 a choice he describes to Ziggo Sport as a \u201cno-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;By far, really by far,\u201d Mol said. \u201cWith what he has, and with what he does, I still find \u2014 if you are purely talking about, and that is a nice English word, &#8216;raw speed&#8217;. That simply means: what equipment am I given, and what can I do with it? In that regard, he can do things that others can&#8217;t. In my opinion, that makes him simply the best driver.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen&#8217;s 2025 Formula 1 season<\/p>\n<p>Max Verstappen currently sits third in the world championship standings this season. The Dutchman is effectively \u2018best of the rest,\u2019 with the McLaren proving unbeatable at the moment.<\/p>\n<p>Championship leader Oscar Piastri and teammate Lando Norris are considerably ahead the points battle, leaving Verstappen\u2019s hopes of adding a fifth consecutive Formula 1 title looking increasingly unlikely.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after the Hungarian  Grand Prix, Mol reflected on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpblog.com\/en\/news\/mol-and-plooij-very-decisive-when-it-comes-to-rumors-about-verstappen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Verstappen\u2019s performance and expressed hope that the race <\/a>at the Hungaroring marked the absolute low point of Red Bull\u2019s season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You hope that this is really the low point,\u201d Mol said. \u201cAnd then you hear Helmut Marko, who then says: &#8216;We have an idea what it is&#8217;, but what else should Helmut Marko say. If he shouts: &#8216;We still don&#8217;t know&#8217;, then you gain nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Formula 1\u2019s summer break now underway, it\u2019s the perfect moment to reflect on the first half of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-64948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}