Davidson adamant Verstappen "would be operating at a higher level than Senna"

21:24, 10 Jul

Updated: 22:20, 10 Jul

byLuke-John Buckle

Max Verstappen has been the driver to beat over the past few seasons and is part of an exclusive club of just six drivers to have achieved four world championships.

The Dutchman is ruthless on the track and has dominated every Red Bull teammate pitted against him since Daniel Ricciardo left at the end of 2018.

Verstappen has had a more difficult season this year as the Red Bull is inferior to the McLaren, but he has still won two races in Japan and at Imola.

The four-time world champion has been able to maximise his car's fullest potential, which makes him very difficult to beat over a Grand Prix. He has also used sim racing to his advantage and is an ambassador for Team Redline.

The former Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson feels sim racing is allowing Verstappen to maintain constant sharpness, while the stiffer competition compared to parts of Senna's era has a similar effect.

Davidson feels the "strive for performance" aids Verstappen's generation

He told the F1 Beyond the grid podcast: "I'd like to think that Max would be, and many of the drivers today, would be operating at a higher level than Senna would have been, because just what goes into it, that strive for performance, is at a higher level today from all around.

"So the demands on a driver today, although the cars arguably are easier to drive, the competition is stronger. It was Senna and Prost out there alone many times by a minute over the competition with almost 100 horsepower more than anyone in their Honda as it was back then.

"And they only had each other to race most of the time, particularly in one of the seasons. So, where is the other competition coming from? And that sharpens you as a driver. So I do think that Max... I do think he operates at such a high level. We know that. Does it come from the sim alone? I don't think it comes from the Red Bull simulator. I think it comes from more his home sim, particularly the iRacing that he does. And you think he's in competition constantly in that regard."

Verstappen is incredibly precise when driving on the limit, especially when it matters most in qualifying.

His pole position lap in Monaco in 2023 was a prime example, maximising the track width to snatch pole position from Fernando Alonso.