Max Verstappen has undoubtedly established himself as one of the best drivers on the current grid thanks to his two consecutive Drivers’ Championship wins. While the Dutchman is incredibly fast and consistent with his performances, he also has several other skills. And one major skill among them is awareness.
Not only does the 25-year-old use this skill brilliantly to pull off spectacular moves on track and stay away from danger, but he also uses it to remain cognizant of the threat posed by his rivals. One such instance when Verstappen used his awareness extremely well was at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen does the impossible
At the 2019 Abu Dhabi GP, Max Verstappen incredibly knew that Ferrari had doubled stacked the cars just by listening to the sound of the wheel guns. He heard the sound while speaking to his race engineer on the radio.
After hearing the sound, Verstappen asked his engineer, “Are both Ferraris on a two-stop”? On getting his engineer’s reply, the Dutchman confirmed that he could hear from the background noise.
That time Max Verstappen knew about Ferrari’s double pit stop by the sound of the wheel guns in the background. pic.twitter.com/SyGPv1QiVt
— Lis (@rbrblis) April 7, 2023
Fans were left startled by Verstappen’s outstanding awareness as several responded to the post and hailed his abilities. Several fans praised the 25-year-old for his awareness while some also wondered how did he know that were the Ferraris that had pitted and not another team.
His hearing skills and the awareness and ability to focus on things outside of the driving and his mechanic speaking, is amazing!
— Lis (@rbrblis) April 7, 2023
How’d he know it was a Ferrari in the pits and not a Mercedes
— Honest Alonso fan 🇪🇸 (@shaarl_eclair) April 7, 2023
F1 drivers have a fighter jet pilot mentality
— Par Excellence.🏁 (@starrziprogee) April 8, 2023
Situational Awareness eindbaas 👌🏼
— FPL – La vita è bella (@SacredSilenced) April 7, 2023
He is an incredible young man.
— Tabloids SUCK! (@CHCW1) April 7, 2023
crazy awareness
— Sir Chonky Capivara 🇰🇷🇧🇷🇺🇸 (@chonkycapivara) April 7, 2023
Max Verstappen kick starts 2023 season in impressive fashion
Max Verstappen seems to have carried on his form from last season as he continues to dominate this year. The Dutchman has already claimed victories in Bahrain and Australia and managed to finish second in Saudi Arabia despite starting from 15th on the grid.
As a result of these impressive performances, the 25-year-old has already scored 69 points out of a maximum of 78 and leads the championship by 15 points from his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. Verstappen will now hope to carry forward this form into the next race at Baku, which takes place from April 28 to 30.
