F1 | Long live Verstappen's irreverence, but criticizing Hamilton is a sensational own goal

We know him to be cheeky and irreverent. And Max Verstappen confirms that he is, when with his usual boldness he states that "Hamilton is not the best, he just has the most competitive car. He was already ready on his debut just because he had a good car, then now he has less pressure with the team all working for him."

It's a stone in the pond, it's a crime of lese - lesissima - majesty beautiful and good, without extenuating circumstances, a bolt of lightning in the most serene of skies (of motorsport) which unanimously elected, first and foremost the challenger and almost the same age as Vettel, Hamilton as the current top of the class; for the results, for the depth, for the charisma and the ability to manage an entire exhausting season.

Only the very young budding phenomenon Verstappen, with five career victories well spread over the last three years, many more quick wins and even more spectacular "numbers" as a little Martian behind the wheel, could overturn reality, turn space and time, data, facts, belittling those in charge, going against the grain, surprising. As if the other side of the total absence of inferiority complexes was a poorly concealed superiority complex, the moral duty to believe oneself to be the strongest. To tell the truth, this needs to be understood a little. Max - as the track reports tell us - grew up with the pressure of victory, between axles and bolts, racing was his world, with all the possible implications attached and connected. This is his personality, it expresses a blind and furious competitiveness, a fire that is impossible to tame.

The Red Bull driver is imprudent, if not reckless, when he makes certain statements, but we like his arrogance, it amuses him, it interests us. Yet, at least towards the man who has joined Fangio in world titles and is chasing Schumacher's 91 victories, Verstappen should have shown a minimum of form, of respect. It's also a question of common sense. It's difficult to think of becoming a legend if you don't respect the legends you have at your side.

Max has the right (and the potential) to dream big, to fly high, but mindful of the myth of Icarus he must not approach the sun recklessly, otherwise the wax melts and the fall is only more disastrous and fatal. In 2018 Vertappen definitively matured, he maintained a very high level of driving from Monte Carlo onwards, he won and convinced with a Red Bull objectively far from Mercedes and Ferrari. On one occasion, in the back podium at Interlagos, the Dutchman was also able to listen to Hamilton's advice, despite his nerves on edge towards Ocon. Now that was a beautiful image. The young man who steals secrets from the "old man". While the last words are just a slip of style.

Max is already very strong and tough, with a pretty good character. He already has his own stature and his own history in the Circus, he can continue to be impudent and brazen without however transcending into ridicule, or provoking beyond what is permitted. Because, to this day, it frankly makes you smile to hear that Lewis Hamilton wins because he drives Mercedes. We should beat him first, a matter of common sense and credibility.

Antonino Rendina

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