I would agree with that. I think given the right teams Ricciardo WILL be champ one day, whereas Verstappen MIGHT be. Either one is capable of it tho for sure.

 

Vettel still has 10 good years left, and he's with the right team. Begrudgingly, even with his mechanical competitive advantage diminished, same for Hamilton. It's going to be hard for anyone else to compete for championships in the near future IMO. McLaren-Honda and Red Bull certainly have the drivers and the budgets, but can't figure their **** out on the engine side. I don't think they will close the gap until the next big rules change.

 

I was just looking at ages. I was surprised to see Ricciardo is 27. I thought he was younger. Vettel is 29, Lewis is 32. I would be shocked if either of them is P1 in 10 years.
Max is only 19, so he has a lot of time to make things click.

 

Schumi won his 5 consecutive championships age 31-35. And he had MUCH stiffer competition. With the fitness of the drivers these days, their peak driving years are certainly ahead of them, not behind them. Unless Alonso gets in a better car, or these other teams make some sort of aero or mechanical breakthrough, this is just how it's going to be for the foreseeable future.

 

I have a couple of jokes that immediately run through my twisted brain, but I have too much respect for Schumi and his story is too tragic.

Please let the record show that on this day, this one time, I used some judgement and kept my mouth shut.