Di Montezemolo picks his “number one” — and it’s not close
Luca di Montezemolo didn’t blink. Asked on stage whether he’d hire Max Verstappen today, the former Ferrari chairman and Scuderia boss went straight to the point: “For me, Verstappen is by far the number one.”
The exchange came at the London premiere of Luca: Seeing Red, where di Montezemolo, the architect behind Ferrari’s 2000s dynasty, offered a very modern endorsement. He praised Verstappen’s poise in “difficult conditions,” his relentless pace, and the lack of unforced errors that has come to define the Dutchman’s finishing sprints on Sundays. “He never loses control, he was always quick, he never makes mistakes,” he said, doubling down on a theme. “For me today, Verstappen is by far the number one.”
It’s the kind of line that cuts through the chatter. Verstappen, who debuted in Formula 1 at 17 with Toro Rosso in 2015 before that infamous mid-2016 promotion to Red Bull and a win on debut in Spain, has spent the last few seasons turning frightening potential into inevitability. Sixty-seven victories and four consecutive world titles tend to settle arguments.
This season hasn’t been a victory march. Verstappen’s 2025 has asked him to grind — and he’s answered with back-to-back wins in Italy and Azerbaijan to drag himself back into the conversation. He still trails championship leader Oscar Piastri by 63 points, but if McLaren stumbles, we all know who’ll be standing there to cash in.
Di Montezemolo wasn’t only talking about Sundays. He went all the way back to karting, noting Verstappen’s ferocity even as a teenager. “When he was 13 years old, [he] was super, super strong in go-kart,” he recalled. This is a man who’s seen greatness up close — and backed it. When he says “by far,” it lands.
The Ferrari subtext is unmissable. Di Montezemolo referenced the Leclerc–Sainz era (2021–2024) as “a very good couple,” before dropping the hammer: “But no question. Verstappen is by far the best in my view. By far.” And when he added, “If tomorrow morning I will be obliged to go to work in Ferrari, in one week I have clear in my mind who to put in different positions,” it didn’t take a codebreaker to see where he’d start.
Ferrari, of course, has already pulled off its big move. Carlos Sainz Jr. made way at the end of 2024, and Lewis Hamilton stepped in alongside Charles Leclerc for 2025 — a blockbuster pairing by any historical standard. Yet even in a Ferrari garage now split between a seven-time champion and Maranello’s long-term spearhead, the idea of Verstappen in red remains the sport’s perennial what-if.
But that’s the thing about Verstappen right now. He doesn’t really live in hypotheticals. He lives in the next lap, the next risk calculation, the next moment where he turns a tricky race into a foregone conclusion. That’s exactly the quality di Montezemolo was circling: a driver who doesn’t waste speed with mistakes, who squeezes results out of days that don’t deserve them.
If you’re old enough to remember the way Ferrari wrapped itself around Michael Schumacher, there’s a familiar ring to that praise. Di Montezemolo knows what a talisman looks like. And whether or not Verstappen ends up in red one day is almost beside the point. In a season that’s asked real questions of him, the answer, at least in the eyes of one of Ferrari’s most influential figures, is unchanged.
He’s still the benchmark.
