Since Verstappen's debut in F1, he's made an impact on the sport. From the ragged rookie years where he failed to balance his emotions with his talent, which resulted in a myriad of crashes and incidents, to his rise in form from the 2019 season, Verstappen's talent has been undeniable.

But how much is down to his talent as a driver, and how much is down to him having received preferential treatment by Red Bull since the early days? After all, one of the reported reasons that forced his first Red Bull teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, out the door, was the clear preference toward Verstappen's side of the garage.

After the Australian, Red Bull has made it very clear, the team relies unapologetically on Verstappen's feedback for the most part, which sets any fellow Red Bull driver back as was the case with Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon, Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda, with the Japanese being the latest driver to be ousted from the team for his inability to measure up to Verstappen under Red Bull's singular driver approach.

And sure, it could be said that Verstappen brings home the silverware, but in reality the other drivers have not been given a fair shot against him. When they've had it though, like Perez seldom did for instance, the Mexican driver would beat the Dutchman on merit, only to see the momentum swing away from him by way of the extreme development direction Red Bull was obliged to take to satisfy Verstappen's input and his, more often than not, successfull title bids.

When the fight is waged on someone else's turf, on their terms, with the express support of the team's leadership on their side and in a car that is explicitly tailored to them, in an era where driver suitability is of the utmost importance, how real is the outcome of the battle? Even Verstappen has failed to make it into Q3 when he's not felt at home with the car, the dreaded scenario his past four teammates have constantly been faced with.

All it takes is a glance over at the Dutch driver's teammates to see the lack of F1 accolades in their resumes, which further fuels the widely reported theory that suggests that the second seat at Red Bull is reserved only for drivers who can stay in touch but not challenge Verstappen.

The lack of a same-level teammate keeps the Dutch driver as the de facto number 1 within the team, with his teammates being of little service aside from giving him the odd qualifying lap tow, or slowing down a title rival, like Perez and Tsunoda were told to do on occasion, as Red Bull's dutiful number 2's.

A driver like Lewis Hamilton, though, comes out as the benchmark in this area, with the Briton taking on no less than three world champions as teammates, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg, all three of whom he beat, with Alonso losing to Hamilton in the Briton's first year in the sport when he nearly clinched an unprecedented rookie drivers' title.

In fact Hamilton and Ayrton Senna prove yet another area where Verstappen still can't break through into the best of the best category.

The Dutchman is a Red Bull driver through and through, plus, with the many priviledges he enjoys there, there hardly is any reason to look elsewhere. Speculations regarding a potential move to Mercedes for 2026 were debunked by Verstappen himself, saying that he'd never considered the switch to begin with.

Drivers like Hamilton and Senna, though, were not shy of seeking out the competitive edge elsewhere, regardless of the comfort and familiarity they enjoyed at a particular team. That's how Senna ended up switching from Lotus to McLaren where he would partner then-two-time world champion Alain Prost, the Woking-based outfit's clear number 1 at the time, for instance.

Managing to force Prost out of the team after the 1989 season, Senna established himself as the leader at McLaren. However, when the team's performance dwindled he went to Williams, a fatal move fueled by the desire to win, which saw him place the uncompetitive 1994 Williams in positions it should never have been.

Hamilton, having won the title at McLaren moved to Mercedes, where he became a cornerstone in the ruthless dominance the German team exerted over the rest of the grid for eight consecutive season. But after a 12-year spell, the Briton chose to leave behind the familiar Mercedes' silver colours to embrace the challenging Ferrari's scarlet red.

Despite the many warnings, which the F1 2025 season's outcome seems to have confirmed, the hunger, the passion and the fight are all still there.

Knowing full well he would get no number 1 driver treatment, that his teammate would be Ferrari's protegé Charles Leclerc, and that he would have to adjust to an entirely new set of components, systems and software, Hamilton took the plunge and it may prove to be the right decision yet, if Ferrari comes out the blocks at full speed in 2026.

To be ranked as part of the select group Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Senna, Hamilton and co., are in, the same rules of equal intra-team treatment, environmental adaptability and proving one's worth against the very best in the same machinery, among other principles, must be followed.

Verstappen, supported by Red Bull's gigantic infraestructure, against unproven teammates who have no influence in the team and who pose no threat to him, has accomplished a lot. Should those conditions change, though, would he still be able to produce the same results?

Ralf Schumacher named Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher as the two best drivers in Formula 1 history and his ideal driver pairing. Read the full story here.

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.