Why do the bookmakers still rate Max Verstappen ahead of Daniel Ricciardo? In Australia, the young Dutchman demonstrated perfectly how not to drive a Grand Prix in order to win the 2018 Championship and yet some bookies odds for Verstappen are as low as 7/1, well ahead of Ricciardo.
Bookies rate Hamilton as favourite, then Vettel, Verstappen, Bottas and finally Ricciardo to become Formula 1 Champion 2018. Yet if you ask many in the F1 Paddock, most would suggest that the Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo is a more consistent points scorer and actually underestimated by many fans and book-makers alike.
Yes it could be that many think Red Bull are more likely to favour Max over Daniel, Vertstappen having recently signed a lengthy contract extension with Red Bull, whereas Ricciardo is keeping his options open with a possible move to either Mercedes or Ferrari.
“I want to do the right thing with my next Formula 1 contract, so I will not let myself be pushed.” says Ricciardo
Red Bull favourism gives better odds for Verstappen?
If true, such Red Bull favouritism could give Verstappen a slight advantage over Ricciardo. But of course, this is mere speculation but certainly could account for the better odds for Verstappen.
However, in this writers humble opinion, young Max Verstappen got off very lightly indeed after the race in Australia. An overly desperate attempt to make a pass on the Haas of Magnussen, the Dutchman destroyed his tyres along with damaging the floor of the car. The resultant damage caused a spin, burnt his tyres then couldn’t get past Alonso. For anyone else, the press would have a field day but for our young Max, the excuses were plenty and forgiving.
In retrospect, Ricciardo was given a rather harsh 3 place penalty at the start, but drove smoothly through from 8th to finish ahead of Verstappen just off the podium. Lets not forget who destroyed a 4 time Champion in his first year with Red Bull in 2014?
For all of Verstappens speed and panache, where’s his consistency? The vital ingredient for winning a Drivers Championship.
“I really believe that I can become world champion. Although I do not particularly like the word expectation, I can not put it another way – I expect myself to become a champion. If I know what I am capable of, if I look at what knowledge I have acquired over the past few years, then I can achieve that goal. But in this sport you also need the right tool. I hope I’ll get that in 2018.” says Ricciardo during a Sky Sports interview.
Give us your opinion, is Ricciardo a safer bet for a WDC over Verstappen? Why is Verstappen a ‘darling of the media’? Leave your comments below –
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Verstappen is usually Vercrashen or Vercrappen. Dan’s the man!!!!
Just copied your line to present it back to you over and over as time progresses. Funny if it’s waaaaay off as Dan has had his moments of glory but is losing his edge. On the other hand, a magic recovery of “Dan the man” and moving to Ferrari as world champion would be cool too, even cooler. But dreams…
thejudge13 doesn’t delete articles………..
Just read this article.
Forgot the article 😎
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/heart-max-verstappen
Sorry but this is a non sensual article. Verstappen overwhelmingly outqualified Ricciardo last year. When Verstappen and Ricciardo both finished the race, Verstappen was almost always in front of Ricciardo. And are you seriously giving Verstappen sh*t for trying to overtake Magnussen? You would rather have a parade of F1 cars where no one passes or tries to pass? At least Verstapprn is always trying, and creates excitement. Judge13, you are losing credibility with this very biased article. Seems like the majority disagrees as Verstappen is voted better than Ricciardo in your little pole. I thought you were a neutral truthful journalist but that doesn’t seem the case. Too bad.
I don’t know why you call this article non sensual when you obviously have a hard-on for Max.
Part of F1 for 35yrs and seen a lot of good drivers. Verstappen has a long way to go yet, he drives on the edge like Senna did in the early part of his career. Ricciardo like Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton is a calculating driver, fully understands a machines limitations. May not look as exciting to some Verstappen is yet to come to grips with this concept.
And just to keep things in perspective when looking at the ‘ Excitement Factor ‘
Australian Daniel Ricciardo replaced Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen as Formula One’s pass master in 2017. According to figures released by tyre supplier Pirelli on 6/12/17, there were a total of 435 overtakes over the 20 races. In 2016, when there were 21 rounds, the sport racked up 866 moves.That worked out at an average of 21.8 per race in 2017, compared to 41.2 last year.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix winner Ricciardo made 43 overtakes, including 13 at Silverstone where he went from 19th on the British GP starting grid to finish fifth.
Verstappen, who topped last year’s 2016 Pirelli statistics with 78 passes in a season that also brought him a first victory, managed only 22 this time around.