Rosberg: 'With the way Verstappen is driving, he will be in the top five'

As Max Verstappen secured his third Formula 1 title at the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, the Red Bull Racing driver is in a shared sixth place on the list of drivers with the most F1 titles. According to 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg, what Verstappen is currently doing is historic.

'Verstappen is historic, unreal, spectacular'

In fact, according to the former Mercedes driver, it is so historic that with his third title, the Dutchman is already close to other greats the sport has ever known, greats like Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton. In absolute terms, Verstappen storms the top five on this list, but according to Rosberg, Verstappen is already almost on the same level as the drivers who won many more titles than him.

"It's really historic," Rosberg told Sky Sports. "It's unbelievable the run of form he's had and the level that he's driving at, the records he's beating. Unreal. He's even getting close to those five greatest of all time now. It's spectacular. With the way he's driving, he's getting close to the Fangios, Schumachers, Sennas and Hamiltons."

With his three titles, Verstappen is on a shared P6 in the rankings, along with Senna, Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart and Jack Brabham. Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel are in shared fourth place with four titles each. Juan Manuel Fangio achieved five and is on P3. At the top of the list are the names of Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, with a shared record of both seven titles.