‘Not going to agree’ – Max Verstappen reveals his all-time top five F1 drivers

Max Verstappen has Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna on his list of top five F1 drivers

Max Verstappen has named his all-time top five Formula 1 drivers but while Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna are generally a given on that list, Fernando Alonso has also been included.

Almost 800 drivers have competed in Formula 1 since its first official event, the 1950 British Grand Prix, and 34 of them have won World Championship titles.

Max Verstappen lists his top five F1 drivers

Verstappen is on that list of champions, having won three titles from 2021 to 2023 with a fourth expected to follow this season.

Although the Red Bull driver is climbing the ranks in F1’s history books with his 60 race wins, 105 podiums, 39 pole positions and three Drivers’ titles, he’s a long way off of securing the number one position in any of those stats.

It’s Lewis Hamilton who holds the records for most of those with 103 wins, 197 podiums, 104 pole positions and seven World titles. The latter is a record he shares with Schumacher.

It’s no surprise then that Hamilton features on Verstappen’s list as too does Schumacher, Senna, and also Juan Manuel Fangio, F1’s first-ever five-time World Champions.

Interestingly, the Dutchman counts Alonso, a two-time World Champion with 32 wins, amongst his top five.

“Do you know what happens? No matter what you say, people are going to comment and they are not going to agree,” he told DAZN.

“I’m going to go with Michael Schumacher, probably Ayrton Senna, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio.

“Old school.”

Where does Max Verstappen rank in F1 all-time lists

F1 points all-time rankings: Where do Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso feature?

F1 race wins: Which drivers have the highest win totals in F1 history?

Such is Verstappen’s love for F1’s old school, he reckons if he could race in any era the early 2000s would be it.

“I think I would choose… I’m happy with what I have now, but maybe the early 2000s,” he said. “Simply because of the sound of the engine.”

Verstappen went on to speak about his admiration for Alonso, a driver he says is “worth turning on” the television to watch him race.

“I think Fernando always shows himself as he is, which is something I admire a lot,” he said. “Despite the success he has had, he is still a normal, nice guy.

“He was also the first Spaniard to be successful in Formula 1 and become World Champion. I have a lot of respect for him.

“I remember when I was in go-karting watching him in Formula One and he was always the driver that I was like ‘yeah he can race’ and that’s something as a fan you turn on the TV for.”

Read next: Follow PlanetF1.com’s WhatsApp channel for all the F1 breaking news!