Formula 1: Max Verstappen totally disrespected (again), yet it's no surprise

Media bias against Formula 1's Max Verstappen is nothing new. It's an ongoing theme when it comes to Sky Sports and their international broadcasts.

But giving credit where it's due, even they acknowledge the extraordinary talent of Verstappen and legendary achievements earned by the three-time reigning world champion during his career thus far.

Unfortunately, ESPN failed to do so in their recent "top 100 professional athletes" list of the last 25 years.

Let's make one thing clear: this list was always going to generate talk among fanbases of teams and athletes worldwide. Any "top x number of athletes" list does. These comments are not meant to tear down ESPN, but to simply further that discussion on what we believe is one of the more controversial talking points from the list.

Even ESPN made sure to include "Let the arguments begin" before unveiling the top 100. It's all in good fun.

Verstappen completely snubbed

This list was said to be strictly based on achievements during the 21st century, with statistics and accomplishments from before that not playing a role in the rankings.

There were two drivers from Formula 1 included on the list, and those two were unsurprisingly the two seven-time world champions: Michael Schumacher, who won five titles during the 21st century, and Lewis Hamilton, who has won all of his since 2008.

Schumacher and Hamilton both deserve to be included, and I'm glad they were. I'm also glad they were given the respect they deserve and were ranked as high as they were.

And there is arguably nothing wrong with both being ranked higher than Verstappen. Schumacher came in at No. 29, and Hamilton was ranked 10 spots higher at No. 19.

But Verstappen being totally excluded is simply ludicrous, even if not surprising.

There are plenty of other young, active athletes included on this list, athletes who have had incredible success at a young age yet have arguably not yet achieved their full potential.

It's not as if the list consists of strictly retirees such as Tom Brady at No. 5. Patrick Mahomes coming in at No. 18 is the most notable example.

ESPN even made note of that: "Other athletes, such as Patrick Mahomes or Nikola Jokic or Shohei Ohtani, obviously have more greatness ahead of them, so we'll see how high their accomplishments so far get them on the list."

Yet the 26-year-old Dutchman, who has been competing at the highest level in his sport for longer than some of them have competed in theirs as a whole, is not among them.

Verstappen already has more wins this century than Schumacher did. His win total since 2020 alone would be good enough for third place on the all-time Formula 1 wins list (behind Hamilton and Schumacher).

Though there are more races during a season now than there were during Schumacher's prime, and even during Hamilton's, Verstappen is coming off of a two-year stretch during which he won more races than anybody else has ever won during a three-year stretch.

He won 19 of 22 races in 2023; Schumacher's best was 13 for 18, and Hamilton's best is 11 for 17.

Verstappen is doing exactly what those two drivers did during their primes, and at an even more dominant level. And though some may still consider him the "next big thing", he went from "next" to "now" a while ago.

Even in 2024, when Red Bull have not had the fastest car nearly as often as they did in 2022 and 2023, he is the only driver with more than two wins in 14 races, and he has seven.

His exclusion is even more questionable when you consider some of the other athletes who were included.

Bryce Harper? Seriously? It took him 11 seasons to win a playoff series, despite having been in position (many times) to be a hero during his time with a Washington Nationals team that immediately won their first World Series the year after he left for Philadelphia (and subsequently accidently stated that he hoped to bring a championship to D.C.).

And that's just one example of an eyebrow-raising inclusion on this list. With all due respect to the two-time MVP, him being (comfortably) considered one of the top 100 international athletes of this millennium, all while Verstappen is nowhere to be found, is borderline shambolic.

It's not all that surprising, however, that Verstappen was snubbed, and not just because media bias against him has become quite common.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is listed lower than several known PED users from other sports, and Johnson, like Schumacher and Hamilton, is simply listed as "auto racing".

We're going to assume they didn't consider IndyCar's Scott Dixon, either. But given the fact that these three drivers were indeed included, it's not like racing was completely ignored.

That's what makes Verstappen's omission even more baffling. They had 71 chances to at least slot him in behind 2000s era Schumacher, and 71 athletes not named Verstappen got the nod.

Even ignoring the Abu Dhabi controversy in 2021, Verstappen was the better driver in his head-to-head duel vs Hamilton that year. He led more than twice as many laps as the seven-time world champion, despite the Mercedes being the constructor championship-winning car.

In fact, Verstappen already has more career wins in seasons during which his team did not win the constructor title than Hamilton. During the last quarter of a century alone, Verstappen's total in that category is more than twice that of Schumacher.

I'm sure there are other athletes whom fans believe deserve to be on this list, and to be fair, ESPN has to consider athletes from literally every sport on the planet. I'm almost shocked Joey Chestnut isn't on here.

And whenever a list like this comes out, there are always more athletes that "should've been on it" than would even fit on the entire list to begin with. You could make a case for 400 or 500 other guys who "belong" on this list of 100. For that reason, it's hard not to give ESPN at least some benefit of the doubt.

But none of those other athletes have done in their sport what Verstappen has done and is still doing in his.

Whether he was simply overlooked or the individuals creating this list have a bone to pick with the 61-time Grand Prix winner, a list of this magnitude with this era's top driver is questionable, to say the very least.

As far as anybody who watches Formula 1 is concerned, Verstappen, Hamilton, and Schumacher all probably belong on a top 100 list that isn't exclusive to the 21st century.

Verstappen even won the Best Driver ESPY Award last month, yet ESPN, which owns the rights to Formula 1 broadcasts in the United States, still managed to find a way to exclude him. The decision simply defies logic.