Max Verstappen’s stunning wet-weather skills likened to Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna

Max Verstappen’s wet-weather skills have been compared to F1 legends Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

Verstappen’s stunning comeback victory from 17th on the grid at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix proved to be key on his way to claiming a fourth successive world championship title, and his performance drew praise from many inside the paddock.

Ex-F1 driver-turned pundit Karun Chandhok described Verstappen’s peerless display as a “masterclass” in treacherous conditions and likened it to other all-time great wet-weather drives.

“It was hugely impressive,” Chandhok told the Sky Sports F1 podcast. “When we get days like that and conditions like that, the visibility is a huge challenge. On the first lap you are literally driving into a wall of spray.

“Max was the one who seemed to find grip and confidence and ability to just make his way through the traffic, which nobody else could. We saw Lando stuck behind George. We saw so many drivers just not being able to come through the pack.

“Max was the only one who could come through. Let’s bear in mind he started two places behind Lewis Hamilton, and Lewis as we know is also a wet-weather master, and on this day, it was only Verstappen who could come through the pack.

“I thought he was really trying to make a statement because once he got out in front he didn’t just hang around. It was very reminiscent of Senna at Donington in ’93, or Schumacher at Spain ’96, Lewis at Silverstone in 2008, where, they don’t just want to win, but they want to put a marker down and destroy the opposition.

“He pulled 19 seconds on the pack after the late Safety Car and red flag. He just absolutely disappeared off and it was a real, real big statement he made.”

On the challenges of racing in the wet, Chandhok added: “Driving a race car is all about staying on that precipice of grip versus speed and just sort of balancing on that.

“Obviously when you’ve got less grip because there’s water on the track, yes you’ve got less speed but the knife edge gets even smaller. It’s even harder to balance on there.

“That’s where I think the great drivers are able to just balance on one little finger almost and are able to stay there on that knife edge and let the car dance around and float around. But still know that they are going to be in control and deliver that lap time.

“You can’t understate how difficult it is. The fact that we saw so many drivers going off and so many good drivers going off. We saw people like Alonso ending up in the barrier in qualifying. We saw so many good drivers struggling to hang onto it and stay on track.

“I don’t think I ever saw Max ever going off the track. Even a lock up. At no point did he seem out of control throughout that race.”