After Max Verstappen made his F1 debut with Red Bull in 2016, many instantly regarded him as the next big thing in the sport. Even the great Niki Lauda regarded the young Dutchman as the talent of the century. However, a few months later, the same Lauda questioned the Red Bull driver’s existence in F1 due to his actions on the track.
Lauda, after witnessing Verstappen’s on-track antics at the 2016 Belgian GP, said as per F1 Arena, “He (Verstappen) belongs back in school. You can’t be in Formula One driving like that.” During that race, the Dutchman took out both the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, and erratically also defended his position against the Finnish driver.
Apart from this, Verstappen was also infamous for his risky overtakes and unnatural positioning of his car. As a result, he had multiple on-track collisions with his fellow drivers. The track record of the Dutchman has been so bad that GP Blog back in 2021 reported that he has crashed out of 28 races in F1.
That’s more than what Lewis Hamilton has had in his entire career which has spanned over 16 seasons. It’s believed that the number for Verstappen has increased to 30 now. However, as Verstappen has matured more and more, Red Bull’s trust in him has paid off.
How is Max Verstappen a changed man now?
Max Verstappen who started off his F1 career in a reckless fashion has now become the most clinical driver on the grid. The three-time world champion was brilliant throughout the course of the 2023 campaign.
He claimed a record 19 wins last year out of 22 races. Since Verstappen was in a league of his own, he is just showing why Helmut Marko showed faith in him and directly signed him into F1 from F3.
Verstappen perhaps just needed time to settle down and gain some experience when he made the move to F1. Now that he has done so, he has been breaking records almost effortlessly. There is a high chance that he may also carry forward the same form into the 2024 campaign now and continue to break more records.
