Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher have a special history, even though the two drivers raced in completely different eras of F1. The Dutchman’s father, Jos, was Schumacher’s teammate at Benetton in 1994, as the families of the two drivers became close, and hence the German former racing driver has known Max since the day he was born. To Verstappen, he was “Uncle Michael.”
In the years that followed Michael Schumacher retiring from F1 as the most successful driver in the history of the sport at the time, Max Verstappen has also put himself in a place where he is compared by many fans and experts to the Ferrari legend. The 28-year-old sits third on the all-time race wins list, just behind Schumacher, and has even claimed four drivers’ titles.
As Verstappen has reached 244 race starts in F1, we decided to dig up some stats comparing the two legends of F1 at this same stage of their careers. Schumacher reached 244 race starts at the 2006 Hungarian GP.
Max Verstappen vs Michael Schumacher stats after 244 race starts
Michael Schumacher was already a 2x F1 world champion before Max Verstappen was born in 1997. Their careers also came nowhere near colliding, as Schumacher retired for a second and final time in 2012, while Verstappen didn’t make his debut in F1 until 2015 as a 17-year-old.
So, for a fairer comparison, here are Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher compared across a few metrics after 244 races.
Championships (4 vs 7)
Verstappen has secured four drivers’ titles in his career, which came in consecutive years from 2021 to 2024. Schumacher, who holds the joint-most number of championships, had already won all seven of his by the time he reached 244 races at the 2006 Hungarian GP.
Wins (71 vs 89)
Max Verstappen has claimed 71 career wins, and only two drivers have more wins than him in F1 history. One of them is Michael Schumacher, who had already reached 89 wins by the time of his 244th race. The driver added two more after this, ending his career with 91 victories.
As already mentioned, Schumacher and Verstappen sit second and third on the all-time race wins list, respectively.
Podiums (131 vs 151)
Verstappen has stood on a podium 131 times in his F1 career, while Schumacher was already on 151 by the time of his 244th race at the 2006 Hungarian GP.
Pole Positions (48 vs 68)
Verstappen has claimed pole positions 48 times in his F1 career so far. Schumacher secured his 68th and final pole position at the 2006 French Grand Prix, before he even reached 244 race starts.
Fastest Laps (37 vs 74)
Verstappen has secured the fastest lap during a race on 37 occasions, whereas Schumacher had done so exactly double the number of times (74) at the same stage in his career.
Career points (3553.5 vs 1338)
The only metric that Max Verstappen is ahead of Michael Schumacher in after 244 races is total career points, as he has secured 3553.5 in his career so far compared to Schumacher’s 1338 at the same stage in his career.
But a major caveat to even this point is that Schumacher raced in an era when only 10 points were awarded for a race win, and points were only handed out to finishers down to P6. This was under the older points system, which was in place from 1991 to 2002.
Edited by Samyak Sharma