15 June 2023 , 06:00
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Johnny Herbert dismissed the notion that Max Verstappen has to prove himself with another team to become one of the great Formula 1 drivers.
The Dutchman already has two world titles to his name at the age of 25. He is the favourite to add a third this year and time is on his side in the quest to become one of the most decorated racers the sport has ever seen.
Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher currently hold the record for the most titles won by a driver. They have seven each to their names, across spells with different teams.
Hamilton won his first with McLaren before enjoying the bulk of his success with Mercedes. Schumacher is most famous for his five won in a row with Ferrari, though his first two championship successes were recorded as a Benetton driver.
So far, all of Verstappen's success has come with Red Bull. Former Sky Sports pundit Herbert does not believe the Dutchman has to repeat his achievements with another team in order to be considered as one of F1's best ever racers.
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"Verstappen doesn't have to move and win with another team to be considered a great," he told OLBG. "Michael Schumacher did with Benetton and Mercedes. But whatever car you are in, the elite like Verstappen or Hamilton will be able to perform in any car they are given.
"If he moved to another team the car has still got to give him the chance of him winning a race and a title. We know Lewis Hamilton can be equal to Max Verstappen if they are in the same equipment. It is not a fair thing to say that Verstappen can only be considered one of the great unless he is in another car."
Not everyone shares that view, though. Former Le Mans winner Richard Bradley recently shared his belief that Verstappen will end up joining Ferrari in a bid to prove he can do it in a different car.
Hamilton and Schumacher won F1 titles with different teams (Getty Images)"I think that Max is going to end up at Ferrari in a couple of years," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me, I think especially if he keeps on winning titles and he starts to get complacent, and people start saying, 'Oh, is he the greatest of all time?' Max is the sort of guy that goes, 'Okay, well I'll do what Schumacher did, I'll take Ferrari from not being in the position to win, to make them world champions'.
"The reason I think this is because Max is on the path to greatness, we can all see that. He's on a meteoric rise, he's dominant at the minute, he's had two world championships in the Red Bull, but we've never actually seen him do what defines the true greats.
"When I say that, we look at Schumacher, we look at [Ayrton] Senna, Hamilton, and the one thing that defines all of these guys is that they were able to win in a sub-standard car and take a manufacturer to a position where they weren't winning at the time, but then they're able to bring them back there.
Johnny Herbert does not believe Verstappen has to win with more than one F1 team (Getty Images)"Schumacher doing it with Ferrari, we had Senna when he was at Lotus, we had Hamilton at McLaren after the new rules came in in 2009 and then of course with Mercedes. Whilst Max is doing exactly what he needs to do in a very, very good team and car, I think he's going to want to prove himself because Max, there's no secret, he's quite a proud person to say the least.
"And he's going to want to show that he is one of the true all-time greats. And I can see him wanting to bring Ferrari back to the glory that they had with Schumacher, in the next few years. How this might look, I don't know.
"When this might happen, we're not sure. He's still young and he’s still got a bit of time, but I'd be quite confident that maybe after the next five years, if he's got to the level of five or so championships, which I think is very real, especially if the rules don't change until 2026, I think it's something to keep an eye on."