Max Verstappen gives very blunt response to Kyle Larson’s ‘faster than him’ claim

Max Verstappen doesn’t have any time to argue with NASCAR driver Kyle Larson about who should be considered the best all-around driver in the world.

In a media briefing before the Dutch Grand Prix , Verstappen offered a very blunt response to a question asking for his thoughts on Larson’s comments — but he didn’t rule out racing in other disciplines in the future.

Max Verstappen: “Everyone thinks their own way”

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

After winning the Knoxville Nationals for the third time in four years, Larson stated that he believes he’s the best all-around driver in the world.

In a press conference after the event, Larson was asked if he felt he’d need to beat Max Verstappen in a race to crown himself the best driver in the world.

“I know in my mind I am better than him as an all-around driver,” Larson said, as reported by FloRacing .

“There’s no way [Verstappen] can get into a Sprint Car and win the Knoxville Nationals. There’s no way he can go win the Chili Bowl. There’s no way he can go win a Cup race at Bristol,” Larson added.

Larson’s words kicked off a serious amount of debate in the motorsport world, as fans of various series debated the relative merits of their favorite drivers, as well as who should be deserving of the best all-around driver tag.

But during a press conference ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen refused to even entertain the question. When he was asked about Larson’s comments, he had a very blunt response.

“That’s fine,” he said. “Everyone thinks their own way, right?”

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It’s particularly challenging for any one driver to compare his skillset against another, especially if those drivers race in different disciplines. Still, later in the press conference, Max Verstappen didn’t rule out the possibility that he could compete in other series in the future.

“It’s quite difficult to combine with F1 at the moment having so many races, but for sure, once I stop in Formula 1, I would like to do other stuff a bit more,” he shared.

However, Verstappen had one big caveat: He wants a more “relaxed” scheduled, one that features fewer races.

“With relaxed, I mean that you are also a bit more home, because I know that once I compete in something, of course I want to be good. I want to win,” Verstappen said.

“But let’s see what opportunities come by.”

Read next: F1 vs NASCAR: Is Kyle Larson a better all-around racer than Max Verstappen?