Former Formula 1 driver Stefan Johansson says that Max Verstappen's hard-racing style is at a level that even eclipses that of Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

The Dutchman took the 2021 crown at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December, after a year-long duel with Lewis Hamilton that enthralled and surprised throughout.

Indeed, there were a number of flashpoints between the pair over the course of the campaign, with Max taking flak at times for his uncompromising style in wheel-to-wheel combat.

With that in mind, he has naturally had comparisons drawn between himself and Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, two supremely talented drivers who also pushed things right to the limit, but Johansson actually believes that the Dutchman has taken 'hard-racing' to another level on the back of 2021.

“The issue we have now on track is that Max has taken the Senna playbook and the Schumacher playbook to a whole new level," he said in his personal blog.

“Generally, I think there’s a good code of conduct between the drivers. Most of the current crop of the new generation of drivers are racing very clean but hard, there’s been some really great battles this year but they’re not at the front and therefore it goes unnoticed for the most part.

“No one cares about the guys in fifth or sixth place.”

max verstappen

Certainly, there was a lot of wheel-banging at times last year in what was a gripping 2021 campaign and hopefully more drama can be served up in 2022, with the likes of George Russell, Sergio Perez and the Ferraris and McLarens wanting a piece of the action.

Hopefully, though, the over-stepping of the mark we perhaps saw in 2021 is clamped down on a bit more this coming campaign. Hard but fair racing is what we all want.