![]() ![]() I spent much of this year tracking his private jet around the map, from Monaco to Milton Keynes to race weekends and back again. Max, who grew up across the border from the Netherlands, has always raced under the Dutch flag, like his father before him, but has lived since his 18th birthday-the day after passing that test for his driver’s license-in Monaco. The 2022 F1 season ran from February to November and included 22 races and approximately 240 hours of air travel for all involved in the global series. (Very cold.) But he’s also quick to laugh, so long as there’s time for it, which there often isn’t. He has insouciant blue eyes and naturally pursed lips that contribute to his rap as a cold-blooded killer. ![]() He stands stock straight, has a face that rests stern and serious. Up close, Max is taller than many drivers (five feet eleven). Which is why it might amuse race fans to learn that despite those infractions at his road test in 2015, Max managed to talk his way out of it. It can contribute to the impression that Verstappen, Horner, and Red Bull are working the refs and squeezing every last advantage. That sense that he is destined to go past you, as though by fate’s decree, has seemingly contributed to a near-pathological certainty that he is never at fault. And it is when he is chasing that his proprietary ownership of the racing line is on most ecstatic display. He can win from anywhere on the starting grid-not just the front of the pack. At 25, he has won more Grand Prix than all but five racers in F1 history and is already comfortably regarded within the company of the best half-dozen or so to have ever done it. And that tactical fearlessness goes a long way toward explaining his competitive edge and recent domination, which includes back-to-back world championships in 20. “At one point I said the tyres are pretty good, like they were completely worn to slicks, so it was very tricky out there of course, when the track is like it was, so we decided to box, and then after the stop, with like 20 laps to go, I think, just decided to bring it home.“I don’t think you can go fast if you have fear inside you,” Verstappen told me last year. “But yeah, there was no point where I would attack Valtteri and he was just managing his race of course also very well and looking after his tyres and of course I had Charles quite close behind me in the first stint. “I mean in the beginning I just tried to follow Valtteri but of course we had to manage the tyres so I just dropped back a bit and at one point we started to pick-up the pace a little bit, also because the track was drying a bit. “Considering our whole weekend being a bit off the pace compared to Mercedes I think we had quite a decent race,” he said. Overall, though, Verstappen retook the lead of the World Championship with a controlled drive to take P2 behind Valtteri Bottas on Sunday, although he admitted afterwards that Red Bull need to find more speed from their car, as he struggled to keep up with the Mercedes drivers throughout the weekend.ĭespite that, he felt another podium and a six-point lead in the standings was a solid afternoon’s work at Istanbul Park. #TurkishGP □□ #F1 /Clf2hFfUAJĬheck out all the latest Max Verstappen merchandise via the official Formula 1 store Six points ahead with six races remaining…. “But, again, this is not performance limiting – but it’s better to say it than say nothing.” “The steering was a bit left-hand-down, but also of course the tyres are wearing so you get a bit of an uneven platform but I could feel this already from the start. “There was a word next to the number where I can see the gears which was not disappearing, so I had to change one rotary and it was fine. ![]() It was not the gear shift,” Verstappen told reporters after the race when asked if his problems held him back. The Red Bull driver was heard on team radio saying that his steering wheel’s alignment was off, by becoming more “left hand down” when driving in a straight line – leading him to need to compensate by steering more to the right to stay true to the course.Īs a result, the Dutchman said he was driving on an “uneven platform” in the race, but explained what happened after the chequered flag dropped. Max Verstappen played down issues he had during the race on Sunday, when he complained about his steering wheel malfunctioning. ![]()
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