FIA “too fussy” says former president – Max Verstappen has been voted Formula One driver of the year for the first time by all ten team bosses. Fred Vasseur, Toto Wolff and Andreas Stella all chose to over look their drivers in favour of the now four times world champion who experienced his longest winless run of ten races since 2020.

Much of the back of the job ahead was broken when the Dutch driver claimed seven of the first ten Grand Prix of the year. During the European summer season, different teams were strong at each event something which delivered seven driver’s with multiple wins for the first time in 2024.

As early as Imola in round seven it was clear the RB20 was not always the quickest car as at the Emilia-Romagne Grand Prix, Max Verstappen doggedly kept the McLaren of Lando Norris behind him on the narrow and twisty circuit.

 

 

 

Max wins with “inferior car”

Yet Max was focused on delivering the best result the car could offer up each weekend, never finishing lower than P6 across the entire season. The most successful chairman of Ferrari since Enzo has been speaking this week to La politica nel Pallone on Radio GR Parlamento, 

“There are great champions and then there are champions like Sofia Goggia in skiing, Federica Pellegrini in swimming, or Jannik Sinner in tennis. In F1 Verstappen is a champion, he has always been very strong even with go-karts,” said Montezemolo who recognised unlike in 2023, Verstappen did not have it all his own way this year.

“This year he had to ask the maximum of himself: he had a car inferior to McLaren and in some cases even to Ferrari.” added Montezemolo.

It is true at a number of the venues, this year’s Red Bull car was not at the races. In Monaco Red Bull’s once world beating suspension was problematic in terms of compliance with the car being tossed from kerb to kerb and losing valuable lap time. There Max qualified just sixth and for the first time at the Monaco Grand Prix, all top ten starters finished in the order they began the race.

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Austria defines driving standards debate

Austria was the next significant problem Verstappen encountered as for lap after lap he was harried for the lead by McLaren’s Lando Norris. The infamous turn three at the top of the hill was the scene which defined the race outcome. 

Time and time again Norris had attempted to sneak up the inside, and each time Max Verstappen closed the door. An increasingly frustrated Norris changed tack and tried around the outside of the turn, only for he and Max to collide. WhIle Verstappen limped back to the pits and finished the race in just P5, Norris was out, and this saw a potential swing of fifteen points in the title race.

This was the first of a number of controversial on frack moves which led to criticism of Verstappen’s driving style and also the start of a run in with the stewards which leaves Max just four points from a race ban.

Yet the FIA faced criticism in certain quarters for their decisions on driving standards being erratic. Montezemolo addresses this citing heroes of yesteryear who were famed for their hard fighting on track, most notably René Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve at the Dijon Prenois Circuit, during the 1979 French Grand Prix.

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FIA too ‘fussy’ over driver battles

“F1 is made of healthy duels: what would they have done in the duel between Villeneuve and Arnoux, would they have put them in jail?,” said the former Ferrari President, who thinks F1 is heavy-handed with its regulation which concerns the aristocratic Italian that the sport lose the emotion of the moment.

“I think we are exaggerating, both in terms of physical contact and in going beyond the lines of the track. So Formula 1 is becoming a precision watch: we must leave room for emotion, courage and the ability of the drivers who must not look at the millimetres. It is one of the points to reflect on to change things a bit,” concluded Montezemolo.

The real trouble between Max and the stewards began in Singapore where the world champion was sanctioned by the stewards for swearing in an FIA press conference. This created a stand off between Max and the FIA who refused to answer questions properly at a subsequent FIA approved media session.

Then the FIA incensed Max further, having failed to issue the same community service sanction against Charles Leclerc who also used the F-word in an FIA approved press session. Next time out in Austin Texas, saw Max again on the back foot with the quicker McLaren car hunting him down.

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Steward guidelines questioned in Austin

Norris appeared to have taken the position from the Red Bull driver along the back straight, only for Max to break later at the apex of there turn, which gave him ‘the right’ to the corner. The guidelines are clear, the driver who has claimed the corner does not need to consider the other driver in terms of providing space and Verstappen exploited this to the limit running Norris off the track.

The McLaren man kept his foot in and completed the overtake but it was Norris who was penalised and finished behind Verstappen who claimed the final step on the podium.

Johnny Herbert, the driver steward, popped his head above the parapet and criticised Max’s “horrible mindset” and next time out in Mexico City it appeared the stewards were targeting Verstappen who received two ten second time penalties and finished just sixth.

Accusations of favouritism were made by Red Bull Racing as the stewards stood accused of an anti-English bias. Yet wins in a rain soaked Brazil and a cool Qatar saw Max Verstappen over the line for his fourth consecutive drivers’ title. Only three other drivers have ever achieved this feat in the sport them being, Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

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Criticism mounts over Reed Bull driver decision

Liam Lawson: A mis-step for Red Bull Racing? – The decision to pair Liam Lawson with four-time Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen for Red Bull Racing in 2025 has sparked heated debate. While some have hailed the move as a testament to Red Bull’s faith in its junior programme, others see it as a gamble that could backfire. For one prominent pundit, the choice of Lawson is a strategic misstep.

With just 11 Grand Prix starts under his belt, Lawson will be stepping into one of the most demanding environments in motorsport, partnering with Verstappen – a driver widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time. The New Zealander’s promotion raises an important question: did Red Bull make the right decision, or is history about to repeat itself?…. READ MORE