Verstappen's current dominance makes it 'more difficult quantify the win'

In recent years, people have gotten used to Max Verstappen winning most of the races. His Red Bull is so dominant that only two other drivers managed to win last year. Yet there have also been times when Verstappen managed to win without the fastest car. Peter Windsor discusses those periods during a livestream on his YouTube channel.

Those who have not been following Formula 1 for very long can probably hardly imagine it, but Verstappen has not always been in a winning car. When the Dutchman was allowed to get into the Red Bull in 2016, Mercedes was the fastest team. This period continued through 2020. In the five seasons during the period, Verstappen still managed to win 10 races.

Windsor on 'Mansell-like phase' Verstappen

When asked about Verstappen's victories in a slower Red Bull than the Mercedes, Windsor replied, "I certainly hadn't forgotten that. Not only his wins, his drives sometimes to finish fourth or fifth in a car that was the third best car out there. He just never gave up. Very Nigel Mansell-esque at that stage of his career when the Red Bull wasn't a winning car."

In recent years, it has been a very different story, with Verstappen winning on the conveyor belt and grabbing record after record, partly due to his dominant cars since 2022. Windsor finds this no less impressive, but: "When you're winning easily and everybody else is hopeless, it doesn't devalue the win at all, but it does make it more difficult to quantify the win. When you're in a difficult car, that's when it's much more appropriate, I think, to judge the driver."