With a second win in the current season and overall all title count at 12, the 23-year old Dutch Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen took the F1 championship lead from Lewis Hamilton. With the Monaco Grand Prix title, one of the toughest F1 circuits, in his kitty, he is definitely one of the best racing talents in the current era. He already has several firsts in his name, and he is one who proves even his passionate critics wrong. In an interview with online betting site Betway, former F1 driver Eddie Irvine rightfully said that Verstappen is “definitely” the fastest driver, but Sir Lewis Hamilton is probably still the top driver. 
Red Bull driver Verstappen is currently four points ahead of Hamilton, and Irvine believes the ongoing season is going to be great. Endorsing the young driver’s super-fast driving and natural talent to be a dominant team leader, he said that none of the Red Bull drivers have got close to him and it is more like the Michael Schumacher effect.
“You’d have to say Verstappen is probably the ultimate talent,” he said adding “but Lewis is a consummate professional and has very few weak spots.”
Speaking about the pressure of the F1 title race, Irvine says “pressure of F1 is immense” as you are the guy responsible to get the result at the end. Sharing his 1999 championship title, he said, “We got close, but we didn’t quite pull it off.”
“It was a lot of pressure, but that’s what we’re paid for,” he added.
Comparing his days with the current circuit atmosphere, Irvine says modern racing is more professional, but it doesn’t look as much fun as it used to be.
In response to a question about the personal rivalry between Hamilton and Verstappen, Irvine believes all is fair in love and war and F1 is a war.
“I really had no problem with criticizing or saying anything that I felt would help me,” he said.
Recalling his time spent at Ferrari with Michael Schumacher, Irvine told the portal “Being Schumacher’s teammate was amazing in one way because I got to work with who I still believe is the greatest driver of all time.”
On learning from Schumacher, he said that it was hard to learn from him because it was just pure talent.
Who was your favorite teammate during your F1 career?
“Michael was my favorite team-mate during my F1 career,” he said, adding he never had an issue with him at all.
On Hamilton’s recent performance, Irvine believes the all-time great is getting older now and his pace isn’t as good as it used to be, but he still is a consummate professional.
In response to seven-time champion Hamilton’s pre-race comment “the younger man feels he perhaps has a lot to prove”, the Dutch prodigy responded post-Monaco win rather maturely saying, “Actions always speak louder than words; that is a good lesson after this weekend.”
Going by the calculated response, it could be easily said that the young man is maturing well and expected to do well on and off-track in the remaining 17 races.
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