"Max Verstappen wins the (insert country here) Grand Prix." I enjoy hearing these words. I enjoy watching him drive. I enjoy seeing his passion that he has for racing. And now, I just NEED to talk about Max Verstappen.
On 18th August 2014, at aged only 16 years old, Dutch racing driver Max Verstappen was announced to drive at Scuderia Toro Rosso - now known as Alpha Tauri. I don't know about you but this announcement made me hesitate. In fact, at the time of the announcement, Verstappen was driving in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, his first in single seaters. Surely, a driver trying to get into Formula One should have more experience than this? Well, Red Bull didn't think so. And now, in 2021, bringing Max into the Red Bull family was one of their best decisions to date. Surely, he is World Championship material? Surely, he is one of the very best to grace a race track? Well, after the past few seasons, I definitely believe this to be true.
Back in 2014, several Formula One teams including Red Bull and Mercedes had their eyes on Max Verstappen. He was a wanted man for his talent and subsequently joined Red Bull after impressing the team during a test in a Formula Renault 3.5 car. In 2015 he made his Formula One debut with Toro Rosso making him the youngest full time driver, ever. It also wasn't too long after his debut to break yet another record by becoming the youngest points scorer at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix finishing P7 and ahead of his teammate; Carlos Sainz. And, after impressing many critics at Toro Rosso, Verstappen was promoted to the Red Bull Racing team in 2016. He even won on his debut with the team at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, again breaking yet more records. This time, becoming the youngest race winner. Max made it obvious, he was here to win.
Fast forward to 2021. Verstappen is still racing strong at Red Bull Racing with 12 wins, 47 podiums, 4 pole positions, 12 fastest laps and 1267 career points (including Toro Rosso). He's also managed to beat four teammates since his debut in 2015 and looks to make it five in 2021. But what makes Max really special? Anyone could do this in this car, no?
Well, no, probably not. This has been proved numerous times in the past few years where Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon have all failed to match the Dutchman. Verstappen pushes the car to the max (pun intended). He's the only driver, apart from Valterri Bottas - who drives a Mercedes, on the grid in the past few seasons to be able to fight against and challenge Lewis Hamilton and it seems this season that the challenge is well and truly on.
I find there is something special about watching Verstappen drive a Formula One car. He has an aggressive form of driving, which I like. Attacking the corners, hitting the apexes and finding the fastest line, his laps are almost perfect. Almost. He does however, make mistakes. As does everyone. But, in his early career these were frequent. As he has gotten older and more experienced, he seems to have learnt from these and any accidents of his are mainly that, accidents or bad luck. Despite this, he is one of the best, there is no denying it and unfortunately for his teammates, Red Bull will constantly compare them to Verstappen and there just doesn't seem to be another Verstappen out there. At only 23 years old, Max has plenty of time to become a world champion but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him clench his first this season. The first of many, for sure. Lewis Hamilton definitely has a challenge on his hands while Max is around. Watch this space.
Commentaires