Max is a magnet for race incidents. Something to do with his driving. Just read the posts, they will tell you all about him. He attacks too much, or he defends too much, but he is in contact regularly with other cars. It's not irrelevant when he ruins other people's race !!
I have seen just about every Formula 1 race Senna and Prost have competed in, and every single race Schumey has ever competed in. Max has made more boneheaded moves so far in his young career than all 3 of the aforementioned drivers COMBINED over the length of all of their careers. Problem is, I am not so sure he can. All of his boneheaded moves have come in the heat of battle where there is very little time for thought, where it's more instinctual reaction. I think it's a lot more difficult to change how one reacts instinctively compared to just applying more thought to a given situation.
I have to say I’d love max to compete for the title, it would be quite exciting watching him in a car capable of a proper challenge, but he scares the crap out of me too as a racer. Where all the drivers know the rules, and apply them (such as leaving a gap etc) max applies them as he sees fit. Sometimes he will do it, and on the odd occasion, he won’t, and this is why he is difficult to pass. Drivers don’t trust what he will do like they can with most other drivers. When it says leave a gap, he will leave the absolute minimum gap, not a millimetre more, and of course, wobble a little as you line up just to let you know how precarious that gap is. He requires additional thought to pass or to race for this reason. I’m not saying he is in the wrong, lots of drivers will do a similar thing, but max hasn’t really made the correlation between him doing it to someone else, and putting them off, and what might happen if another ‘max’ is challenging him, as I do think he will cause one almighty accident at some point, and we know full well that he is entirely capable of allowing such a crash to take place without batting an eyelid in his mindset. The young man needs to mature a bit more yet, he has cleaned up his act to a point, but as often is the case, it’s the last 5% of his game, the auto reflex he has, that is the toughest, but the most important, he has to amend
+1. When he decides or does employ with care and strategic thought, the last % he will be a force. Until then he has too many mistakes to complete the package.
Pic says everything: Vettel got alongside, is all the way on the curb and Verstappen turned directly into him. Didn't "give him room". Less than a car width. Piss poor driving - you can't shut the door when somebody is half way through it - and that's a gap you know Max would have taken. At this point, if I were Vettel (or anyone else except Hamilton who has the most to lose) I'd just blatantly punt him off. It's the safest way to drive near him and is about the respect he shows other drivers. If the stewards won't take care of him and Magnussen (who's also garbage around other cars), then move them out of the way.
Another solid drive from 18th on the grid today. A good little battle with Lewis too. Fingers crossed the Honda engine is decent for next season.
21 years and 21 days old, Max times his first USGP 2018 podium to perfection! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Max has impressed the hell out of me this second half of the season. Note that Christian Horner complimented him on a "mature" performance--a very deliberate choice of words. I'm sure that's not the first time it's been used by RBR team principals. I think that he is just about there, with equal power he will be competing for the WDC next season.
Honda has everything going for them starting the 2019 season. I think all they have to do is deliver equal power to Mercedes and Ferrari and the Red Bull chassis and pit wall can do the rest.
Max impressed me today by his steady recovery from a low position on the grid to finish 2nd without any incident. That should give him confidence and tell him that he doesn't need to throw caution to the Wind to make progress. A mature drive today.
If I may amend my previous post, Max's move on Kimi in Japan and his explanation for it were idiotic--but these moves are becoming less frequent. I greatly enjoyed his battle with Lewis today.
For sure. He defended his position well while giving Lewis sufficient room. Ultimately, his patience paid off as it was Lewis who tried too hard and went off course. Brilliant Max as opposed to stupid Max.
Every driver on the podium today got there because of their driving. The last ten laps were outstanding and exciting. Let's hope that 2019 gives us more of this.
Agree but the aero prevents some racing overall. Today was an example of both good racing and the aero making it less so as we all say we want close racing. Thats possible up until you enter the loss of downforce zone lol
Honda are happy with the progress they've made and the things they've learned this season, so I'm on the optimistic side.
Max's steady tally of results is supporting RBR's faith in his inherent talents and potential. In business you need to have a calculated punt and secure the rights before tangible results are consistent, or someone else jumps in once the data is easy for all to see. Jumping on the bandwagon ! Eddie Jordan did similar with Michael, but quickly let him slip from his grasp And my friend did it with the early screenplay rights to a movie called The King's Speech. Faith is usually rewarded when mixed with the right talent.
Oh, you mean where Lewis fought him at maybe 60% for fear of if he pushed too hard, Max would run into him?
Lewis never goes in half-baked. But they both gave each other enough space. Lewis has met his match. We should enjoy more exciting battles next season if the Honda engine is a match for Mercedes
No, Lewis gave him much more room than he normally would, and he has even said this in the press. (https://www.yahoo.com/sports/lewis-hamilton-gave-max-verstappen-083539352.html) Every other driver knows that Max thinks he is driving a bumper car, and adjust how they would normally race so that they can stay in the race. Met his match? Now that's funny! Maybe after Max has matured a few more years, we'll see. I found it funny when they were interviewing Horner after the race, and Christian said it was "vintage Max". Vintage??? They guy hasn't been racing in F1 nearly long enough to be calling any of his driving "vintage".
I saw and thought exactly the same. Vintage? Really? Christian, I don't think that word means what you think it means. Standard or Typical might have been better choices.
Look Austin is quite simple. Max - starts 18th, finish 2nd. Lewis - starts 1st, finishes 3rd. In an inferior car, Max has stuffed it to Ham. Says a lot about his capability. Now, he obviously has a long way to go and many seasons to race, but the potential to be one of the greats is clear to see. His pace of his maturing is the only thing that will hold him back (assuming he is given the right equipment).
It's comparing apples and pears. With a low starting position, and not fighting for the title Max had nothing to lose. So he could attack during the race. Hamilton was inches away from taking the title and just wanted to score more points that Vettel, and avoid a DNF. He had to adopt a more conservative mode. Also, for once Mercedes tyre strategy wasn't good and they kept Hamilton too long on his second set. That's where he lost any chance of winning this race or finishing 2nd, IMO.
