Rosberg: Verstappen already one of the best of all-time

Verstappen won his first F1 Title in 2021 after a season-long and bitter fight with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, that ended with the former winning at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in controversial circumstances after a questionable Safety Car period.

However, the manner in which the 2021 F1 season unraveled showed that Verstappen was a worthy Champion, the same applying for Hamilton had he won a record-breaking eighth Drivers' Crown.

In 2022, when the new ground effect aero regulations debuted, Mercedes got their sums wrong with their car, while Ferrari showed brief early season promise but then fizzled out as the season progressed, leaving Verstappen and Red Bull unchallenged to secure the Title double with races to spare.

As the 2023 F1 season kicked off, it was clear that the Verstappen/Red Bull package has become more formidable, as the reigning Champion has won five of the first seven races, while Mercedes are yet to recover, Ferrari becoming even worse.

In the last F1 race in Barcelona, Verstappen delivered a dominant performance taking his third F1 career Grand Slam (win, pole, fastest lap, lead every lap) and former F1 Driver Nico Rosberg was impressed.

"We are witnessing real historic greatness in line with Schumacher, Hamilton, Senna. It's a really incredible performance, extraordinary," Rosberg told Sky Sports F1.

The German touched on a Verstappen statement about retiring, after the grueling 2021 season, as well as other statements when the Red Bull ace said he would like to try other forms of racing.

He said: "That talk from him [possibly retiring] started in the year when he battled Hamilton, where he said 'I won't go on for very long if every year is like that'. Those battles are so fierce and intense, it takes a lot of the fun away as well.

"The sport will always be an intense environment, especially when you are fighting for championships every year and you are the guy who has it all to lose. Every expectation is you are going to win over and over, it's quite demanding," the former Mercedes driver explained.

"I can't put myself in his shoes. Money-wise he's done, he has so much he won't have to work again or worry again. Record-wise he's already one of the best of all-time by the end of this year," Rosberg concluded.

Another former F1 driver, the 2009 Champion Jenson Button, claimed that Verstappen should try his hand at other racing series if he were to go down in history as the greatest.

“There’s every possibility that Max could go down as the greatest,” Button told The Times. "But I like the idea that you can’t be the best driver in the world if you haven’t stepped outside of F1."

If Verstappen goes on to race elsewhere after F1, he would not be the first, as Fernando Alonso, who took a sabbatical from the sport in 2019 and 2020 before his comeback in 2021, did the same.

Alonso tried his hand in World Endurance Championship, winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2019 in addition to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in twice in 2018 and 2019.

He also took part in the Indianapolis 500 and the Dakar rally but was unsuccessful in those forays.