WHO IS THE F1 GOAT: ZAK BROWN RANKS AYRTON SENN ABOVE SEVEN-TIME CHAMPION LEWIS HAMILTON
Zak Brown sparks a GOAT debate: Discover why the McLaren CEO ranks Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher above Lewis Hamilton.
People often call Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen two of the best racers ever, but McLaren CEO Zak Brown doesn't think either is in his top two.
Hamilton has won the most in F1, and he and Michael Schumacher (who Brown says is the second-best) both hold the record for seven titles. Juan Manuel Fangio is third with five titles.
Verstappen is tied with Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel with four titles. McLaren's Lando Norris grabbed the 2025 title by only two points, ending Verstappen's four-year run.
Verstappen could have been like Schumacher if he'd won in 2025. Schumacher's still the only racer to win five in a row from 2000 to 2004 for Ferrari. Vettel (2010-2013) and Hamilton (2017-2020) both grabbed four in a row.
Zak Brown thinks Ayrton Senna is the GOAT; prove him wrong
Zak Brown believes Ayrton Senna is the absolute best in F1. Hamilton also has the most Grand Prix wins (105), pole positions (104), and podiums (202). Schumacher is second in each, with 91 wins, 68 poles, and 155 podiums. Verstappen is third for wins (71) and podiums (127) but fifth for poles (48).
Still, Brown thinks Ayrton Senna is the best F1 driver ever. He puts Hamilton and Verstappen behind Schumacher. Senna won three titles before his death at Imola in the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix.
Brown told BAT, Senna is a no-brainer. After that, probably Schumacher. You are wrong. Put Lewis in there, and you have to put Max in there.
But my second favourite is Mario Andretti. I love Mario and the guys who do different things. Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Mario Andretti were IndyCar and Formula 1 world champions. That's why I admire Fernando Alonso so much.
When Alonso was like, 'Let's go to Indy [the Indianapolis 500],' not many F1 racers would be up for it. I think after he started, he was like, 'Oh my God.' It's punishing, 230 miles an hour. It's crazy.
Max Verstappen is becoming part of the F1 GOAT talk.
Senna is third in poles (65), fifth in Grand Prix wins (41), and eighth in podiums (80). He also raced in the fewest Grands Prix: 162 versus Hamilton's 380, Schumacher's 308, and Verstappen's 236.
Senna often shone in qualifying and in the rain. But not everyone agrees with Brown that Senna's the best, as Verstappen is getting much praise.
Senna's ex-teammate Stefan Johansson thinks Verstappen is the best ever since he's the most complete. But some might say Verstappen still has to prove himself in close races against his rivals.
MAX VERSTAPPEN CLAIMS POLE IN MERCEDES-AMG GT3 AMID F1 RULE CONTROVERSY
Max Verstappen lands pole in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the Nurburgring while slamming F1’s "Mario Kart" battery regulations.
Max Verstappen just landed pole position in a Mercedes – and he didn’t miss the chance to take another shot at Formula 1's new rules. He’s using the gap between the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix to race in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, getting ready for the 24-hour event in May.
He’s in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Winward, running under the Verstappen Racing banner, teaming up with Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon for this four-hour race. Their qualifying run? Verstappen's squad nailed the fastest lap: 7:51.751 around the legendary circuit.
Honestly, this weekend at the Nurburgring is a breath of fresh air for Verstappen. He’s been vocal about his dislike for F1's latest regulations, which split the power pretty much evenly between traditional engines and electric systems.
These rules are some of the biggest changes F1 has ever had, forcing drivers to constantly watch their battery levels and use a boost button for overtakes. Verstappen didn’t hide his feelings, saying about the NLS race: “At least you can drive flat out without looking after the battery.” He’s been slamming F1’s direction for months, and after retiring late in China, he was running sixth; he doubled down, calling the system “Mario Kart". It’s not racing, he said. “We’re boosting past. Then you run out of battery, and they boost back past you again. For me, it’s just a joke.”
Verstappen made it clear: it’s not about sour grapes or losing. “I’d say the same if I were winning because I care about the racing product. It’s fundamentally flawed. It’s painful. It’ll ruin the sport eventually, and it’ll come back to bite them.”
An old press conference of Verstappen warning about the 2026 regulations popped up again online. He kept going: “You could have seen this coming ages ago. They should have listened in 2023. Maybe it’s a lesson, so this doesn’t happen again. You’ve got to be careful with how you say things, but we’re talking. They know where we stand as drivers. Some love it because they’re winning, and sure, if you have an advantage, why give it up?
“But talk to most drivers; this isn’t what we want, and I don’t think real fans want it either. It’s political. Some have the edge and want to keep it. I get that; I’m not stupid. But it’s just not good for the sport. Hopefully, we'll get rid of it soon.”
DISCOVER WHY JONATHAN WHEATLEY BELIEVES RED BULL’S STRUGGLES FUEL MAX VERSTAPPEN’S OUTRAGE
Jonathan Wheatley claims Max Verstappen's criticism of the "anti-racing" 2026 regulations reflects Red Bull's early struggles.
Jonathan Wheatley thinks Max Verstappen’s harsh words about Formula 1’s 2026 rules say as much about Red Bull’s current struggles as they do about the new regulations.
Verstappen hasn’t held back at all; he’s been one of the loudest voices against F1’s new energy-harvesting era, calling the rules “anti-racing” during pre-season testing.
Just two races in, Verstappen’s only got eight points. After Shanghai, he walked away without scoring anything. He finished the sprint race in ninth just outside the points, mostly because he lost ground when his car bogged down from a lack of battery power right off the line.
Things didn’t get better in the main race. Verstappen tried to claw his way back, but he had to park his RB22 because of an ERS cooling problem.
He didn’t sugarcoat his feelings. Verstappen slammed the new energy management rules, energy harvesting, and super clipping, all of it, as “fundamentally flawed". He called the racing itself a "joke". For him, the whole thing’s starting to feel more like Mario Kart than real racing.
“I swapped the simulator for my Nintendo Switch and have been practising Mario Kart, actually!” Verstappen joked when someone asked if sim time gives drivers an advantage now. “Honestly, I’m getting good at finding the mushrooms. The blue shell’s a bit tougher, but I’m working on it. No rockets yet, but they’re coming.”
He also warned F1’s leaders that these new rules could “eventually ruin the sport; it’ll come back to bite them.”
Not everyone’s moved by Verstappen’s complaints. Juan Pablo Montoya went as far as telling him, "There's the door.” Guenther Steiner, the former Haas boss, said it came off as nothing more than “toys out of the pram when it doesn’t go his way.”
Meanwhile, things look very different for Charles Leclerc. He’s been fighting for podiums in Australia and China and is loving the new era.
“I really enjoyed it,” Leclerc said. “Yeah, sometimes the overtakes feel a little fake if someone messes up their battery management; you get this huge speed difference. But we’re all learning when to push and when to risk it, and that’s creating some great overtaking spots. Today was a perfect example.”
Wheatley, watching all this, figures opinions on the new rules depend on how well one's doing. If you ask the guys up front, Ferrari and Mercedes, they love the new racing. The teams chasing them? Not so much.
He told reporters after the Chinese Grand Prix, “Talk to the Ferrari drivers; they’ll say it was a brilliant day. If you’re not winning, you just want to be able to race cleanly. Honestly, I didn’t see anything fake; every driver was fighting hard and fair. The midfield battles are fantastic; there’s a lot to like.”
And as for Verstappen’s comments? Wheatley gets it. When you’re struggling, it’s easy to point fingers.
