Villeneuve: Verstappen cleaner driver than Schumacher. He’s not nasty

First, the 1997 F1 World Champ Villeneuve is against comparing drivers of different eras. While claiming that Verstappen does not have the kind of "nasty" streak that Schumacher tried to keep in check, but a few times failed.

Speaking to the media team at Prime Casino, Villeneuve was asked to compare his great rival Schumacher, an acknowledged F1 great with today's prime specimen of the sport: Verstappen, the Canadian 53-year-old said: “You can’t compare. It’s so different. Everybody tries to compare different drivers from different eras but you can’t. You just can’t.

"You can’t compare, he’s a cleaner driver. Max is not nasty. It’s the truth. He seems to have a different ethic on the race track, more old-fashioned. Something I respect, that’s the way I was brought up, and that’s how I’ve raced all my life so it’s definitely a way of doing things that I respect," said Villeneuve.

Last year at this point of the season, Verstappen was running away with the 2023 F1 title. Red Bull at its finest had racked up an incredible 14 wins on the trot. But this year it's been different. While Verstappen was quick out of the blocks, he ran out of steam - or rather the rivals caught up and the Red Bull RB20 did not evolve enough to maintain the advantage it had last year.

Hence stats show that with ten GP weekends remaining, ahead of Round 15 the Dutch Grand Prix, seven drivers from four teams have won races. Of the top four - Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren - only Serebio Perez has yet to win a race. While Perez figures himself out, Verstappen is doing all the heavy lifting by himself.

Villeneuve believes the pack closing on Red Bull will incentivise Verstappen: “It will certainly push him. He’s a fighter. He wants to win. He will find solutions to be more and more competitive. He seems to always find ways to become better. And to become better you need to be beaten. You cannot beat your own shadow.”

26-year-old Verstappen's quest for a fourth crown is all but done. He has a gap big enough to defend smartly even if he does not win another race. But not winning is not how Max is wired. Have the announced departures of Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley helped Verstappen's cause?

Villeneuve reckoned: No, it won’t but Red Bull is a great team. Mercedes seem to have turned the tide. They went to the bottom of their wave and they started to climb the wave again. Red Bull will do the same. It takes more than two or three months. There’s always a delay in the effect.”

Villeneuve also added his view on Wheatley's departure from RBR: “I don’t believe it is the turmoil that made him leave. It’s just a step up in a career. It’s James Vowles leaving Mercedes for Williams. It’s a step up, career-wise. It’s not fully related to that. It might have opened the door but ultimately it is a step up in career, anyway," ventured Villeneuve.

Verstappen makes his 200th Grand Prix start this Sunday at Zandvoort. The Dutch ace is aiming to make it four wins in a row at his home race.