Red Bull star Max Verstappen has been the standout driver for the Milton Keynes-based team for the last half a decade with unseen dominance. Only Sebastian Vettel came close to the Dutchman’s dominance in a Red Bull when the German dominated the early 2010s.

Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel are the only two Red Bull Racing drivers to win F1 championships for the team. While the German retired from the sport at the end of the 2022 season, the Dutchman is still going strong and is just 28.

Both drivers achieved much of their F1 success in their 20s. Therefore, it makes sense to compare their stats when they turned 28 (Verstappen’s current age). Let’s have a detailed look at how Verstappen and Vettel failed against each other in different parameters as they turned 28.

Max Verstappen vs Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel made his F1 debut with BMW Sauber as a test driver in 2006 and joined Red Bull’s junior team, Toro Rosso, midway through 2007. 2008 was the German’s first full season with the Faenza-based team. He was promoted to Red Bull Racing for the following year and finished as the runner-up to Jenson Button.

By the time Max Verstappen made it to the F1 grid in 2015, Vettel had already won four championships with Red Bull and made the move to Ferrari. While the two drivers did share the track for 8 years, they never really had any championship battles.

When Vettel was dominating in Red Bull or was fighting Lewis Hamilton for the title, Verstappen was either not in the sport or was just not fast enough to battle the leaders. By the time the Dutchman started challenging for the title and became the lead driver at Red Bull, Vettel had the troublesome 2019 & 2020 seasons with Ferrari, before making a move to Aston Martin before ending his career.

Let’s see how both drivers fare at 28 with their early success with Red Bull Racing.

F1 seasons and Race Starts

Sebastian Vettel turned 28 years old midway through the 2015 F1 season. Since he made his F1 debut midway through 2007, he had 8 seasons under his belt and 147 race starts. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, made his debut in 2015, and turned 28 this year, and has 10.5 seasons with 226 starts to his name.

Despite having only 2.5 seasons more than Vettel, Verstappen has considerably more race starts under his belt at 28 (53% more races) due to the F1 calendar being longer as compared to the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Championships (4 vs 4)

After being promoted to Red Bull in 2009, Vettel went on to challenge for the title in the Adrian Newey-designed car but fell short. However, in 2010, the German driver came out on top in what was a four-way title battle at the final race and became a world champion.

This began a series of consecutive dominant seasons, with Sebastian Vettel clinching four consecutive titles from 2010-2013 before the arrival of the turbo hybrid, which shifted the performance balance towards Mercedes-Lewis Hamilton.

Max Verstappen, on the other hand, had a silent first 5 seasons in the sport and only won his first F1 title in 2021. While the major change in regulations didn’t favor Vettel, it did the opposite for the Dutchman, who went on to win consecutive titles from 2021-2024.

Wins (67 vs 40)

Verstappen (67 wins) had considerably more wins than Vettel (40 wins) at the age of 28, but it is primarily down to the Dutchman starting earlier and having more races under his belt. Max Verstappen also had the dominant 2023 season, where he won 19 of the 22 races, boosting his race-winning stats.

However, when comparing the average races per win, Vettel averages 3.67 races per win, whereas Verstappen averages 3.37 races per win.

Pole Positions (46 vs 45)

Despite having 50% more races under his belt, Max Verstappen (46 poles) has just one extra pole position than Sebastian Vettel (45 poles) at the age of 28. What’s noticeable is that the Dutchman has more wins in pole position at 28, whereas in the German’s case, he has fewer wins than pole position.

This is possibly down to the V6 turbo hybrid engine being a lot more reliable, as well as the Pirelli tires being a lot more durable, often leading to one-stop races. Whereas back in Vettel’s domination era, the V8s weren’t that reliable, and the tires also had higher degradation.

Podiums (120 vs 71)

The podium is where Verstappen clearly has the superior stat compared to Vettel. The Dutchman had 120 pole positions at 28, which is 49 more than the German driver. This is down to Verstappen having a good enough car for the podiums since he joined Red Bull in 2016, and often being the third-best driver behind the two Mercedes drivers in the late 2010s.

Fastest laps (35 vs 24)

Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel are again comparable in the fastest laps when looking at the averages (45% more fastest laps in 53% more races). However, the Dutchman does have 11 more fastest laps than Vettel, possibly down to F1 changing the rules and awarding an extra point for it.

Career points (3278.5 vs 1828)

While both Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel have four titles each to their name at the age of 28, the German driver had a tough competition for the title in a couple of years, scoring less than 300 points to win the title.

The Dutchman, on the other hand, scored almost 400 points in 2021, followed by two title seasons with 400+ points and 575 points in 2023. This is down to less competition in some seasons, as well as more race weekends.

Another factor affecting the tally is that Vettel raced under the old points system for the first three seasons, which only awarded 10 points for a race win compared to 25 being awarded as per the current format.