Max Verstappen is likely to become a three-time world champion at the upcoming Qatar GP, owing to his complete dominance this campaign. The Dutchman has decimated the rest of the field, winning 13 out of a possible 16 races. Every great driver has their own skillset, but former F1 driver and three-time Le Mans winner Allan McNish feels that Verstappen has a particularly “old trick” up his sleeve. As reported by GP Today, the Brit feels that in addition to attacking at the maximum, Verstappen also has something called “min attack”.
Verstappen’s dominance has been a hot subject throughout the 2023 season. In some races, the 26-year-old finished more than 20 seconds ahead of his rival in P2, which was staggering because of two things- how closely bunched the rest of the field was and how far he finished ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez.
In some races, however, even though Verstappen won comfortably, the gap wasn’t as big. This is something that McNish chose to bring to light. He spoke to Motorsport and told them how, like F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart, Verstappen has a unique trick up his sleeve.
Max Verstappen knows how to win despite driving slow
The only drivers who have been able to beat Verstappen so far this season are Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Other than that, no one else has come close to matching the superiority of the soon to be three-time world champion. Allan McNish stated that, it’s because Verstappen knows how to drive slowly, and still win.
As quoted by GP Today, McNish states, “Sir Jackie Stewart told us to win at the lowest possible speed. We didn’t, because we could only attack to the maximum. Verstappen still has his Max Attack, but he has also mastered a Min Attack.”
In addition to the Min Attack, another aspect of Verstappen’s talent was pointed out by the 53-year-old. This is something F1 fans are more familiar with, and something that has earned Verstappen plenty of plaudits, like his teammate.
Verstappen and his ability to manage tires
Often, Sergio Perez has earned the label of being the ‘tire whisperer’ in F1, because of his ability to drive at high-speeds while suffering low tire wear at the same time. McNish feels that this is something Verstappen excels at.
According to him. Verstappen has the ability to push at his maximum, take control of a race and win it, all while taking care of the rubber. This is something that is crucial in the current generation of F1 cars. Max Verstappen for one, has mastered it.
Verstappen can become world champion in Qatar this weekend, even before the Grand Prix kicks off. With the Sprint race scheduled to take place on Saturday, Verstappen needs to finish only P6 or higher, in order to seal the crown.
