Fernando Alonso believes Max Verstappen's remarkable supremacy in F1 is partly rooted in the Dutchman's ability to give it 100% more often than any other driver in the field, including the Spaniard himself.
At Zandvoort last weekend, Verstappen steered clear of every pitfall he encountered in the action-packed race to claim his 46th career win in F1.
But Verstappen's home triumph was also his ninth consecutive win this season, a feat that equaled the record held since 2013 by former Red Bull alumnus Sebastian Vettel.
However, beyond the remarkable stats and the obvious recognition of Verstappen's outstanding talent, the flying Dutchman's merits, according to Alonso, especially reside in his metronomic ability to put forth on every lap, in every session and in every race, his utmost best effort.
"To win in such a dominant manner in any professional sport, it is so complicated," Alonso said at Zandvoort last weekend.
"So, to be at the same level as him…obviously, we have a lot of self-confidence drivers in general! So I do believe that I can do good as well. I don’t know about Lewis, but me, yes! [Smiles]. And Lewis as well.
"Everyone needs to enter in a mood, in a state, that you feel connected with the car. Days like today I felt that I was at my best, and I’m giving 100% of what I felt of my abilities in a racing car.
"But maybe in Spa I was not at that level, or in Austria, or something else.
"You always feel that there is room to improve and you are not 100% happy with yourself, as I am today.
"Max is achieving that 100% more often than us at the moment, and [more than] any other driver. That’s why he’s dominating."
Alonso's public acknowledgment of Verstappen's superiority, coming from a driver who wears his fierce self-confidence and aplomb on his sleeve, is high praise.
However, there's no denying the preponderant role also played this season by Red Bull's remarkable RB19, a car that has demonstrated its engineering excellence on every type of circuit - low or high downforce - regardless of the conditions.
And yet despite the invincibility of Red Bull's package, Verstappen reckons that there have been more dominant F1 machines in the past.
"Even if you have the best car, I think there have been more dominant cars in the past than we have at the moment and they haven't been able to win nine in a row and however many consecutive races we have as a team," said Verstappen.
"It's hard. Especially like today, it is easy to make a wrong call and even drop it yourself. It is never that straightforward unfortunately."
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