Journalists from The-Race have indicated in a podcast that they are not very concerned about how the lack of fight in the races affects Max Verstappen. The Dutchman started every race from pole position this season, and since he won almost everything in recent years, he hardly got into fights anymore.
Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell-Malm, and Josh Suttill analyzed the qualities of the three-time world champion. “We haven’t talked much about Verstappen yet this season, simply because he does his job so well that, just like last year, he manages to make the extraordinary boring,” is Straw’s compliment to the Formula 1 glutton.
Sim racing helps Verstappen
In the podcast, Straw addresses questions from listeners, with someone wondering whether Verstappen could become rusty in direct duels if he drives around alone at the front for too long. “I would worry about that with other drivers, but with Verstappen I’m not worried about it at all,” Suttill answers. “He’s one of the best drivers on the grid when it comes to wheel-to-wheel battles.”
Suttill believes that Verstappen benefits from the fact that he is also involved with Formula 1 outside the Formula 1 weekends. ‘When we see him in fights, for example last season in Las Vegas, he was still very sharp. Yes, there were a few incidents, but the first incident was in the first corner, and the second was due to a mistake by George Russell. Don’t forget that he still races a lot in the virtual world, where he refines his skills. Just think back to his debut season, to that famous overtake on Felipe Nasr in Belgium. He had already practiced this in the virtual world.’
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In Saudi Arabia, Verstappen was still racing online until late at night. The Limburger is therefore very busy with Team Redline, the sim racing team in which he is involved. “He still does that, and still does a lot of sim racing, and stays so sharp, so I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Suttill concludes.
Verstappen as a complete driver
Colleague Mitchell-Malm also points out the development that Verstappen has undergone. “In the past – think of the beginning of 2018 for example – Verstappen sometimes had the problem of being impatient, but he got better at that in the rest of 2018 and then in 2019,” says the Brit. ‘You also saw that in 2020, when Red Bull had the second fastest car. Verstappen had a different attitude, and he drove around with more patience.’
‘Verstappen had become a more complete driver. He knew how to overtake and race with a free fast car. He has become very good at that. His judgment is spectacular and very efficient and effective,” said Mitchell-Malm, who indicates that Verstappen must be careful that his aggression does not get the upper hand in overtaking races, referring to duels with Lewis Hamilton, including in Brazil 2022.
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