Former F1 driver Bruno Giacomelli believes that Max Verstappen would have died 3-4 times with his driving style in the 1980s.
Formula 1 is a dangerous sport. With cars speeding at 200 miles per hour, anything fatal can happen at any time. Though, for years FIA has ensured to make F1 as safe as possible.
After several incidents, the governing body tried to upgrade the safety equipment in the car. Now, what caused deaths probably 30 years ago, can no more happen in the present times.
The last death that happened in F1 was of Jules Bianchi, and F1 has almost travelled for almost a decade in safety after that. But with the added safety, are drivers being riskier, considering, it is probable for them to come out safely.
Former F1 driver Bruno Giacomelli thinks this about Max Verstappen. According to him, had the Dutchman raced in his time, he would have died three-four times.
“Looking at the results, Schumacher has won seven world championships,” Giacomelli told Motorsport.com. “Fangio won five, but Fangio won them with different cars and at a time when people were dying, you know what I mean?”
“It means that Verstappen would have died at least three or four times if he had driven the cars of the eighties I was driving.”
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Max Verstappen reckless in 2021
In his championship-winning season, Verstappen had two terrible collisions with his rival Lewis Hamilton. In the crash that happened in Monza, Verstappen was at the fault and was penalized for it.
But at that time, the F1 fraternity was worried about the tendency of both drivers to crash into each other because of the intense competition. Fortunately, the incidents between them were not repeated further into the season.
Though there were some close calls between the two, the skills and experience of both drivers prevented that on many occasions. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old in his starting F1 days was heavily criticized for his reckless driving which had initially cost Red Bull several points.
Now it seems that the 2021 champion has learnt from past mistakes, and tries to be a cleaner driver.
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