Verstappen: Team player & future champ

· by · in Max Verstappen Weekly. ·

The Max Verstappen weekly by @F1TheaJ 

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Even on a ‘bad’ day, Max still manages to get himself on the podium.

After the German GP in Hockenheim he was on the lower step, but should he have been higher up? After the race Christian Horner was singing his praises, saying what a great team player Max was and how Max and Daniel Ricciardo work well together as a team. What does that mean exactly?

Well, Red Bull had been chasing down Ferrari for several GPs claiming THEY were the best of the rest (even though they were in third place in the Constructor Standings.) Trailing by a mere one point they set their sights on giving Mercedes a run for their money, rather than worrying too much about Ferrari.

Both Max and Daniel Ricciardo out qualified both Ferraris (Max in P4) and blocked out the second row of the grid. Come race day, Max got off to a blistering start, leapfrogging his team mate and Rosberg, taking second place behind Hamilton.

Max’s credentials as a team player came to the fore when Red Bull put their drivers onto different strategies, with Max getting the Softs and Danniel getting the Supersofts. RIC was putting in some blistering laps on his new tyres when he overtook Max who put up little, if any defence against the move.

And so it was that RIC took the second step of the podium and Max had to ‘make do’ with third. Max said he ‘took one for the team’ and he and Daniel ‘have a good relationship, so it works out.’

Red Bull therefore easily moved into second place in the Constructor Standings, 14 points ahead of Ferrari. Max is in P6 in the Driver Standings heading into the summer break ( 5 and 7 points behind Vettel and Raikonnen.)

Speaking of which, Max is enjoying himself in the south of France:

from whence he posted his video debrief on the German GP

Its onto Spa after the break which Max considers to be like a home GP and is anticipating lots of support from his ever increasing circle of fans. (3 days down, 25 to go. Not long to wait…………)

@F1TheaJ

4 responses to “Verstappen: Team player & future champ”

  1. Its onto Spa after the break which Max considers to be like a home GP

    Here better do. He’s Belgian… 🙂

  3. Months ago I expected Ricciardo to squash Max so heavily it would have ruined his image of child prodigy and made the Kvyat switch look stupid. It didn’t happen, far from that, very far from that. So this is me eating humble pie and admiting Max has exceeded all my expectations and is another fantastic and exciting pilot brought to F1 by Red Bull.

    I just won’t say he’s a future champ because that label seems more like a jinx and a curse than a blessing. How many future champs full of potential have never actually become champs? It’s a much longer list than that of actual champions. And with F1 jumping from one domination (Red Bull 2009-2013) to another (Mercedes 2014 onwards) without an lengthy and healthy transition period, there is no telling when an outsider might suddenly have another real chance. After 2010, there has not been a single season of realistic multiple contenders. 2012 was Red Bull making enough mistakes to give people false hope.

    So, back to Max, I hope Red Bull give him a car which allow both DR and him to become legitimate threats to Mercedes (Which incidently is what F1 needs most now).

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