Max Verstappen has officially made the World Drivers Champion title fight interesting.
He has put himself into second place overall ahead of Valtteri Bottas and only trailing by seven points to the current World Champion, Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton in a radio message during the Spanish Grand Prix admitted that he was in another state of mind as he cruised to an easy victory in the 66-lap race.
Later he told Sky Sports that he lamented the lack of a fight as he edges closer and closer to that gold standard of equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of seven World Championship titles.
Hamilton said: “This is not how I imagined the fight for the championship to go. This is not how I want to win the title; I would much rather have a very good fight with Max and Charles, that is what makes me happy. I’m a racer through and through, that’s what I get out of my bed for every morning. I think it would be great if everything would be closer together in the future.”
A race later that is exactly what he can expect, the challenge coming from the infamous Aston Martin Red Bull Racing outfit after its unlikely victory at the Silverstone circuit where Mercedes struggled to deal with the heat.
Who is Max Verstappen?
Max Verstappen, a Dutch national and son of former Formula 1 legend Jose Verstappen, known for his extraordinary consistency and raw speed on track seems to have been destined for greatness for some time now.
It was evident that the kid had exceptional talent when he was promoted to the main Red Bull outfit from its sister-team Toro Rosso back in 2016 when he was only in 18-years-old.
He didn’t waste any time and got down to business immediately, winning on his debut for the team in Barcelona.
There was no doubt that Dr. Helmut Marko, head of Red Bull’s driver development programme, had done it once again in spotting the young Dane and his great potential in 2014.
However, 2018 was a difficult year Verstappen, he was consistent and kept reeling in the front runners, but his temper and hot headedness resulted in several collisions with drivers and his own teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
He crashed out during the free practice session at the historic Monaco street circuit from his own doing, a race that his team later went on to win.
However, as time progressed Verstappen has matured and has been moulded by Dr. Marko and team principal Christian Horner to take charge of the team as their lead driver and be the one to take the fight to Hamilton.
During a press conference at the Spanish Grand Prix held last week, Dr. Marko was quoted as saying that, “We haven’t given up on our biggest goal yet: we still want to make Max Verstappen the youngest champion ever. We know what else is in the car and Max is up for it.”
Aggressive, but fair, but absolutely intense
The young cohort of drivers including meme-lord Lando Norris, Monegasque Charles Leclerc, British sweetheart George Russel and Thai prodigy Alexander Albon are incredible to watch on a Sunday and they do not hold back.
However, no driver can beat the on-track wheel to wheel action that is exhibited by the Verstappen on a race weekend.
Many neutral fans of Formula 1 will find themselves rooting for the Dane on most occasions whether it be due to his impressive overtaking manoeuvres or just his snarky remarks back and forth with his team, he is a driver that will not accept second best.
Former racer and now F1 guru, Jolyon Palmer has been quoted as saying that, “Verstappen is the underdog the neutrals like to see win, to spice up the action. F1 needs him right now.”
Winner of 2009 World Drivers Championship, Jenson Button too believes that of the 2020 grid, Max Verstappen is possibly the one who will bring the fight to Mercedes, “He is still a young driver, but he already has a lot of experience. He is enormously talented. I think he has the most natural talent in Formula 1.”
And we can expect nothing less from the title contender in the upcoming Grand Prix’s, new circuits are constantly being added and removed in the 2020 F1 calendar therefore there is still a lot more racing to be done.
Red Bull are edging closer and closer in terms of car spec and set up to the Mercedes team and therefore that just leaves the battles between the seasoned veteran and the young stallion to get closer and closer.
There has never been a better time to get into the high-fuelled, adrenaline-pumping circus that is Formula 1.
By Randev Jayasinha