1996 Formula One world champion Damon Hill believes Max Verstappen is at the very peak of his powers despite Red Bull's RB21 underperforming this season. 

Verstappen stormed to a fourth consecutive drivers' championship in 2024, becoming just the fifth driver to achieve that feat and the fourth to do so since the turn of the century. 

The Dutchman has fronted a period of dominance for Red Bull over the last few years, including a near-perfect 2023 when the team won 21 of 22 races. 

But their dominance started to plateau halfway through the 2024 campaign, after Verstappen had won four of the first five races with Sergio Perez also performing well. 

McLaren and Ferrari began to close the gap, with Verstappen going 10 races without a win until his stunning drive at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. 

Though he was able to clinch a fourth world title in 2024, Verstappen has struggled to live with the pace of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in 2025. 

He is currently 61 points behind leader Piastri in the standings after he was spun out on the first lap of the recent Austrian Grand Prix by the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli. 

Red Bull, meanwhile, are fourth in the constructors' table, 255 points adrift of McLaren after just 11 races of the season. 

Red Bull's struggles have not been helped by the driver merry-go-round that took place in the early stages of the campaign.  

Liam Lawson, who replaced Perez, lasted just two races before Yuki Tsunoda got his chance, but he has managed to score just 10 points for Red Bull since. 

The one constant, however, has been Verstappen, who, despite an underperforming car, has won two races this season, with only Piastri (five) and Norris (three) winning more. 

And Hill, who won the 1996 title with Williams, labelled Verstappen as "extraordinary" given his brilliance in a below-par car.

"Right, he's formidable," Damon Hill told Stats Perform. "There's no doubt he is extraordinary, and he's at the very peak of what it's possible to be as a racing driver in Formula One.

"I mean, in both speed and determination. He's fierce as a competitor on the track. You know, he's uncompromising, sometimes a little bit too aggressive, that's my view.

"But he delivers, he delivers more than possibly anybody could out of that car. So you need to disadvantage him in a way to have a chance."

Verstappen will be hoping for a better outcome at this weekend's British Grand Prix after retiring in Austria last time out. 

He has not done so in two races in the same F1 season since 2022 (Australia and Bahrain), while the last time he retired in two consecutive races was back in 2020. 

The new documentary, Hill, will be available on Sky and streaming service NOW in July.