Imagine this, your achievements mean less because your opponent failed and you outclassed them? In addition to winning two consecutive world championships, Max Verstappen has a long list of achievements in Formula 1. He entered the sport at the age of just 17. Thus claiming the record for being the youngest driver in Formula 1. Then he set the record for being the youngest winner as well. So, one would think that he is a great driver. The magnitude of his championship wins would certainly make him a legend.

However, Pat Symonds, the Formula 1 Chief Technical Officer, and formerly a high-ranking official of Williams, Benetton, Renault, and Virgin, disagrees with this thought. Despite Max’s dominance last year, he credits the wins to the failure of Charles Leclerc and Co. and not to the Dutchman and his squad. With this argument, he also takes away the credibility of Max’s credentials. He refuses to call him a legend at the moment.

“He steered the last season superbly, but the challenge to be overcome during the year has somewhat collapsed, hasn’t it? Ferrari was there at the start of the year but at the end … it was not so much that they fell. Because their performance remained very good during the last races. But all the mistakes and the bad strategic decisions put Max on the royal road,” Symonds said about Verstappen as quoted by Motorsport NextGen Auto.

He concluded by saying, “I don’t take anything away from his management and his skills, which are absolutely incredible for his age, but I think we need to wait a few more years to judge him.”

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Going by this logic, many drivers might lose their legendary status, since the opponent often surrenders during a championship run. If anything, Red Bull and Max’s speculated dominance this year, too, can be dismissed in a similar manner.

What makes Max Verstappen a winner?

Max’s success in Formula 1 has come at a very young age, and the maturity that he has gained over the years deserves praise. But how has everything come about for him? What made him stand out in a generation of young drivers? A generation that consists of talents such as Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, and George Russell.

Well, according to former Red Bull driver David Coulthard, it is his hard work. During a recent event in India, Coulthard was heard saying, “Just because he works so hard. His mother was a cart racer, his father was a Formula One driver. He was not given a route to F1, he had to slot it out. Time and again he has shown that he has a fighting spirit, that he is not frightened by any competitor. His work ethic on the track has given him, along with his natural talent, an edge over his competitors.”

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With his age working for him, Verstappen appears to have an edge over his teammate Sergio Perez. That combined with his skill makes him the strongest contender for the title despite the duo sharing a similar car. Will a third championship make the Dutchman a legend for Symonds? We’ll have to check that a year later.