Jacques Villeneuve puts Fernando Alonso ahead of Max Verstappen because of one key factor

Max Verstappen is regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time by many, but he’s beaten out by Fernando Alonso, according to former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve. The Canadian looked at the Spaniard’s impressive longevity, which helped him claim that Alonso was better than the Red Bull driver.

The Dutchman made his debut in 2015 with Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls), while Alonso joined the grid 14 years earlier than Verstappen. Though the 43-year-old called off his F1 career after the conclusion of the 2018 season, it later turned out to be a sabbatical as his hunger for racing helped him claw back his way onto the grid in 2021.

The Aston Martin driver has made an impressive 413 race starts, more than any other driver in F1 ever. Also, he has won the elusive 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race and participated in the Indy 500 a myriad of times.

Subsequently, when posed with a challenge to pick between Verstappen and Alonso, Villeneuve looked at the two-time F1 champion’s persistence and consistency, as he said on the Red Flags podcast:

“I would still put Alonso ahead now because of how long he’s been at it. Like if Verstappen can be like this for 20 years, fine.” (1:12:41 onwards)

“If he ended up winning it this year, that would then put him ahead of Alonso. But the thing is Alonso has been at it, and he won the 24 hours of Le Mans as well. We talk again in five or 10 years, it will be Verstappen, because Versappen will win Le Mans, [he] will win the 24 hours of Nurburgring, he will do other things, but it’s still early in his career. So you have to compare the whole [career].”

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has double the drivers’ titles in comparison to Fernando Alonso, amassing four championships over the past four years.

Jacques Villeneuve downplays Max Verstappen’s last few titles

Max Verstappen won his maiden drivers’ title in 2021 after an impressive battle with Lewis Hamilton that went down to the finale of the season. However, since then, he has had it a tad easier as Red Bull prepared a car that was the class of the field between 2022-23.

Though the Austrian squad fumbled the constructors’ championship last year with McLaren’s resurgence, the Dutchman was still able to mount an impressive defence. This led Jacques Villeneuve to assert that the 2022-24 titles were Verstappen’s from the get-go, as he said on the same podcast:

“If you look at Verstappen, the first championship was a hard one. That one he won it. But the next three, right? They were his.” (1:13:00 onwards)

Verstappen currently sits third in the drivers’ standings as he trails Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the top of the table.