Karun Chandhok: Have Max Verstappen’s rivals sensed his weakness?

Legacy is a fascinating topic in the motor racing world. For knowledgeable and passionate Formula 1 fans, which the readers of Motor Sport magazine are, ranking a driver in the pantheon of greats will involve considering how they did battle as much as what their pure statistics are.

There is no doubt in my mind that on pure God-given talent Max Verstappen will go down in history as one of the best drivers of all time. By the end of his career, he should comfortably make the top 10 ranking of pretty much every expert’s list but just like Ayrton Senna in Suzuka 1990 and Michael Schumacher from Adelaide 1994, Jerez 1997 and Monaco 2006, there will be key moments where we look back and think, “I really didn’t like what he did there.” Senna and Schumacher will still make the top five of most people’s list and therefore you would argue that despite these black marks, with the passage of time, their days of incredible brilliance mask over these blemishes and their legacy is somewhat unaffected.

As I write this at Montreal airport, about to head back from the Canadian Grand Prix, Verstappen sits on 11 penalty points on his licence. For most people who have had points on their licence on the road, they will probably tell you that it weighs at the back of their mind every time they get on the motorway and pick a cruise control speed after that. Even more so if you are just one point away from a ban (I don’t know – I’ve never had points on mine!). But Max is not like a normal driver nor does he think like most people. He said in Canada that he had no intention of changing the way he goes racing, in the feisty, robust style that we have become accustomed to – and I believe him. Crucially, the other drivers in F1 are wary of him.

On several occasions in the past, I have said that Max reminds me of Michael Schumacher more than anyone else. On occasions, he’s taken an unapologetically strong view on incidents, stood by what he has done and, like Michael used to, he also believes with absolute conviction that his actions were merited.

This is why the apology we got after Spain was a pleasant surprise. The move on George Russell was a bizarre and pretty ridiculous one to pull at any level, let alone in Formula 1. It reminded me of the incident with Lando Norris in the Mexican Grand Prix last year when, similarly to Spain, an earlier clash had awakened some form of inner rage and he ran the McLaren man off the road. On that occasion there was no apology, and in my eyes it was just as obvious what was going on. We can probably add the moments with Lewis Hamilton in Monza and Jeddah in 2021 or Brazil 2022 to the same category.

I was pleased to see that Max recognised that what he had done wasn’t right. Yes, he’s unlike 99.99% of other people on the planet in terms of his driving talent, but he’s part of a high percentage of human beings who are frustrated on the school run leading them to make some pretty irrational decisions in the immediate aftermath.

If we work on the assumption that I’m right and Max doesn’t change his style of racing, I’d be interested to see if the other drivers change theirs. We’ve seen in the past two years that Russell or Oscar Piastri put up a stronger fight against Max than Lando has done for example. Do they sense this descent of the red mist as a bit of a weakness and would they use that to try and provoke Max into doing irrational things? George even had a few cheeky lines in his interviews that he has a buffer on his licence points when asked about fighting Max.

In terms of speed, race craft, consistency and wet weather prowess, he’s clearly the top dog on the grid at the moment. Verstappen is a very smart individual and the people around him should be helping him understand that these rage-fuelled moves are really the only weakness in his armoury at the moment. It’s hard to remember that Max is still in his twenties, having been on the grid for a decade and achieved the level of success that he has.

If we think of any other line of work, you would immediately expect people in their twenties to make mistakes and get angry or upset easily. They would be forgiven for not having enough dirt under their nails and all expectations would be that their ability to react maturely will improve with experience into their thirties. Maybe we should expect the same with Max – he is human after all!