Verstappen is not unbeatable, all top drivers are equal, reckon Sainz and Russell

After Max Verstappen clinched his fourth F1 drivers’ title at last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz suggested that while the Dutch driver is phenomenal, he is not unbeatable.

Max Verstappen struggled for pace in the three practice sessions, but he looked a lot more comfortable in his RB20 in qualifying, managing to secure a fifth spot on the grid for Saturday’s race.

The Dutch driver had an average start to hang on to P5, but he managed to pick off Alpine driver Pierre Gasly in the early stages of the 50-lap race. After the second round of pit stops, he found himself on the last spot of the rostrum, but he was then overtaken by the fast-charging Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Despite dropping off the podium, Verstappen did what he needed to do to see off the challenge of his last remaining title rival, Lando Norris to clinch his fourth F1 world championship title.

Asked whether he considers his former team-mate as unbeatable, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz explained that while he regards Verstappen as brilliant, the second half of the season has shown that he can also make mistakes when he is under pressure.

“As much as I think Max has done an incredible job this year, it just shows the second half of the season, eight drivers within a tenth of each other. We could all beat him week in, week out.

“He was extremely good, you know, at dominating with a dominant car and extremely good at not making mistakes the second half of the season. And that’s what’s given him, for me, driver of the year and the championship.

“But the second half of the season just shows that when we are all in equal, more of an equal machinery, we can all go up against each other and make each other’s life difficult. And everyone starts making mistakes when they’re under pressure and everyone starts complaining about their car and everyone starts complaining in the media about their car.

“And, you know, it’s all about pressure management and not having that margin. Whenever you don’t have a two, three tenths margin on your nearest rival or your teammate, suddenly a pressure ramps up and everyone is human.

The winner of last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, George Russell echoed Sainz’s words, claiming that he believes he could fight Verstappen in equal machinery.

“Nobody’s unbeatable. And you go through these phases where teams and drivers together are dominating and people think if I went up alongside them, I wouldn’t be able to compete with them.

“And you’ve got to have belief in yourself. I think, you know, the three of us here all believe in ourself. And for me personally, you know, when I teamed up with Lewis, Lewis is the greatest of all time. And, you know, Max is right up there with Lewis. So, Yeah, I absolutely believe in myself that we could fight him in equal machinery,” Russell concluded.