SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 Verstappen yet to prove himself says Mass Max Verstappen is yet to prove himself in formula one. That is the controversial claim of Jochen Mass, a former F1 driver. 19-year-old Verstappen has been highly critical of Red Bull and Renault recently after a spate of car problems in 2017, hinting that he wants to break his contract. But Mass, a veteran of 114 grands prix and a single win, told T-Online: "Verstappen is too convinced of himself. "I think it's because the hype about him all came far too early. He was praised to heaven after his victory in Barcelona (2016), but he won with a lot of luck. "Now miracles are expected of him," the 70-year-old German said. "Sure, Max is a talented boy, but we will only see how good he really is in the future."
Well, don't think Jochen Mass has shown much more than Max Verstappen already did. Max is a natural talent that gifted to achieve a lot BUT it is not only about driving capabilities, what you are driving is even more important and Red Bull (or Renault for that sake) is not as good the last couple of years.
I believe Ferrari will be interested as well, after 2018, and Red Bull trying hard to keep him on board so expect there will be a lot of talking going on during 2018
AS i said, Max is very quick...a tiny bit quicker than Ricci, but right now, Rici is a much more complete driver...a bit like Prost but more agressive...Max as great car control, but make sto many mistakes...but he'll learn, and when he does, he'll be very good...
+1 Ricciardo may end up being one of the best drivers of his generation. He's only marginally slower in quali than someone like Max but he just never ever makes mistakes and his race craft is the best on the grid, imo better than even Alonso and Hamilton. Ferrari will absolutely not go for Max when Kimi's seat becomes vacant, it will be the Italian-Australian Ricciardo.
I can see that. Much more a team player and thinker + race craft. Ricci is the package. Max is young and just needs to live the F1 life a bit more and gain a little more experience and stop rushing things. His mistakes are tied to his utter rushing the process.
Jochen - I swerved and caused Villeneuve's death - Mass is certainly about the last person I'd ask about expert advice on Verstappen. He should go back under the rock he came from.
and you did how many F1 races compared to him ? Villeneuve killed himself, we all loved him but he was an accident looking for a place to happen, Pironi had more to do with his death than Mass
+1, mass is more entitled to holding a valid opinion than some Max definitely needs to learn a bit more racecraft and guile before we see the finished article we all want to see, at the moment he is all the extremes without the consistent results - he will change, or he will implode
It's completely unfair of you to blame Mass for the death of Villeneuve! - And I say that as a major, lifetime fan of Gilles! Villeneuve came up on Mass at high speed, going into the left hand corner named "Butte". Mass saw Gilles approaching in his mirrors and moved over to the right hand side of the track to give Gilles the racing line - Just as any other driver would do when making space for a faster car. Villeneuve seemingly had decided that Mass had not seen him coming and so thought the March would stay to the left on the racing line. In that split second Gilles decided to go around the outside of Mass flat out, to continue on his way. At the same time as he headed for the space to the right of Mass, Mass moved across into the space and the Ferrari hit the back of the March, catapulting Villeneuve's car up in the air, bringing it down end over end. Mass did the right thing by moving over off the racing line for a faster car. Villeneuve misread the situation, guessed wrong with what Mass was going to do, and he paid the ultimate price for it. You obviously won't see it the same way, but Mass wasn't the one who got it wrong that day, sadly, Gilles did! At the end of the day it was just a tragic accident - Nothing more, nothing less!
When you're being passed you're supposed to stay where you are. The sudden move across the track is what caught Gilles. Granted it was bone headed by Gilles to go like a bat out of hell when pole seemed rather far fetched on a used set of tires. And yes, the "war" with Pironi had as much to do with his death as Mass. That said, Mass never did anything special in F1. Unlike Verstappen who already has much more to show than Mass in his entire career.
It was a misunderstanding...nothing more, unfortunatly with a fatal consequence....Mass was a t fault because he was driving too slowly, he had already been reprimended for that the day before in the briefing by some other drivers...lauda if i'm not mistaken...but also, no one else would have tried that overtaking but Gilles...it was just too unfortunate, the real guilty here was the FISA for alowing skirts and qualifyinf tyres when everyone was screaming how dangerous they were...Balestre was the real guilty one.
That said, Mass never did anything special in F1. Unlike Verstappen who already has much more to show than Mass in his entire career.[/QUOTE] This is true...
As far as I'm aware, there is no actual definitive rule on dealing with a car going much faster than you are, that states whether a driver should remain where they are or get out of the way, and I do not believe there ever has been one. Drivers have always pretty much played by ear as to what to do (if you can show a rule stating drivers about to be passed by a much faster should remain on the racing line then I'd be more than happy to see it). I would say though, that I would have thought a courteous driver not on a fast lap, would do their best to get off the racing line to allow another driver on a fast lap to continue on their way in the fastest way possible, rather than force the faster car off the racing line, causing them to lose time (Just as Mass did). At the end of the day, Mass was trying to get out of the way - He didn't deliberately swerve into Villeneuve's path to obstruct him or cause an accident , and I suspect that the vast majority of drivers, both then and now, would do the exact same thing as Mass did: Get off the racing line into a corner and let the faster car use it. As for Mass not really doing anything in Formula 1 - I totally agree, he was mediocre at best, but by the same token, as an ex-racing driver, he's probably far more qualified to assess a driver than the majority of us who post here. Perhaps the problem Mass has with Verstappen is that, just as I do, he sees a lot of Gilles Villeneuve traits in his driving, and for Mass, that might just bring back a few memories of the tragic accident that he rather forget!
There are two schools of thought: Yes, the courteous (and slower) driver gets off the racing line. OTOH (especially in lower formula and with amateur racing) the golden rule is for the driver being overtaken to just stay in his/her lane. Now you can say that F1 is way beyond that and thus the first rule should apply. Ultimately it comes down to the situation. In this one it didn't work. My beef with Mass is more like what you said: Somebody with a non-career in F1 should be the last to criticize what will be the next multiple WDC. If somebody like Lauda would have chimed in, I'd be listening. Mass, not so much.
Then we had Jacques Villeneuve dissing Stroll,ok Stroll is not in the same ball park as Max V so far ,these kind of comments don't help anyone. Now JV is having a pop at Kubica ....
He worked with Kubica. JV actually is a WDC. So he has a bit of insight vs Mass. Drivers active and not, are constantly asked for their opinions on all sorts of media.
http://www.planetf1.com/news/jv-turns-his-wrath-on-unbearable-kubica/ JV's words on Kubica here. Wow. It's about time JV gets knocked the **** out. Love how he pops off at Kubica first moaning he was only their 3rd driver (yet in his 3rd ever race he got a podium! Something JV failed to do all season). Then attacks his personality...and has the audacity to question Kubica's performance against Petrov, a driver he outscored by 136 to 27, or over 5x as many points! ). He then says that Kubica's only win was in the same fashion as Maldonado did (nevermind that he was 2 years of on years), which is a complete lie. In Barcelona overtaking is near impossible, whereas in Canada it's relatively easy. JV has always been an irritating little **** riding the coattails of his famous dad. He struggled to win a title in a car that was a second a lap faster than the nearest competition. JV was very much against Verstappen. He wasn't alone as plenty of others questioned if it was too early. After Verstappen proved himself over and over, many of his early critics admitted they where wrong. No shame in that, at all. They where right to question bringing Verstappen in. Stubbornly, Villeneuve is about the only person still telling to everyone who listens that he is right and that Verstappen is nothing special. On the other hand he was first very happy that Stroll came in and even compared him god knows who. He has since turned on him and lashes out constantly, even though he's been improving! It's mindblowing. So to conclusion, JV is still a know-it-all ****.
So....Max the master of the 'head-games' lol?? Sebastian Vettel 'fears' Max Verstappen, says the F1 Report Has Max got Sebastian spooked? Debate on the Singapore crash on Wednesday's F1 Report with Kevin Eason and Mark Gallagher http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12475/11043410/sebastian-vettel-fears-max-verstappen-says-the-f1-report
Everyone should. He has shown since day one of his F1 career that is willing to go high risk no matter what. Like Kobayashi a mad man whom's survival often depends on others thinking ahead and give him the space. Maybe not as bad as Kobayashi.
Interesting assessment. Max appears a bit more capable of course. At some point a less radical approach is needed for the longer term.
Max is doing what a young Senna did: Never give an inch. Eventually the other drivers will learn and get out of the way. More power to him.
Some will not and others may not be able to react in time. At Max's rate of enthusiasm, he may be the next casualty.
