1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has taken issue with Jeremy Clarkson declaring Max Verstappen potentially the greatest F1 driver ever.

In the opinion of Villeneuve, to declare Verstappen or any driver the best of all time in Formula 1 is a flawed statement.

Max Verstappen the F1 GOAT? Jacques Villeneuve says ‘cannot compare’

Writing in his column for The Sun newspaper, Clarkson, best known for his appearances on Top Gear, The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm, had said that Verstappen “may even be the greatest driver we’ve ever seen”.

That comment did not go down well with Villeneuve, who thinks the F1 eras and the greats that emerged in them cannot be compared.

“How can Jeremy Clarkson say Max Verstappen is the greatest of all time?” Villeneuve said in conversation with Grosvenor Sport.

“He had a great season when he beat Lewis [Hamilton] for his first championship.

“Then he’s had the same way that Lewis won his first one. Then he’s had easy ones, the same way Lewis had easy ones. And this year he’s been fighting back. So this year has been a great year.

“You cannot compare the era of Fangio to now. They are different eras. So you cannot say any of them is the greatest of all time. The sport has changed too much.

Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher hold the joint-record for most World Championship triumphs in Formula 1 with seven, as Verstappen closes in on his fourth consecutive title in F1 2024.

And with Verstappen still only 27 years of age, Villeneuve believes the Dutchman can also become a seven-time World Champion.

“Max Verstappen definitely has what it takes to match Schumacher’s titles,” Villeneuve declared.

“Max is still hungry and competitive and always goes for the win. He doesn’t get brought down. With the right situation, he will always be there to win a championship.

“The same way that Alonso could have had seven championships. Look how often he got close with Ferrari. Take Schumacher, he could have had three instead of seven. But he could have had even more.

“Sometimes it’s close and there’s a few drivers out there that don’t have the amount of championships that they probably deserved with their talent.

“Max has won every championship that he could have won. He hasn’t missed one so far.”

Verstappen leads the F1 2024 Drivers’ Championship by 62 points over Lando Norris with three rounds of the season left to go.