Interlagos "crowns" Max Verstappen as top driver

If the penultimate world championship event of the season, which took place on the last Sunday of October in Mexico City, brought with it the trial of the (questionable) decisions taken by the race management in the area of ​​sanctions, the 20th round of the season – held less than 48 hours ago on the Interlagos track – has effectively rehabilitated in the eyes of public opinion the enormous talent that Max Verstappen has at his disposal.

Since he arrived at Red Bull last May, replacing Daniil Kvyat who was relegated to Toro Rosso, the Dutchman has shown behavior on and off the track that is certainly not commendable which, rightly, has made his colleagues but also everyone turn up their noses. the Formula One fans who labeled the young Max a “crazy horse”. And it is precisely on the behavioral and character sphere that Jos's son must direct his major repentances and corrections.

Because in terms of class and pure driving instinct, well... there's little to add or correct. But already at Montmelò, in his first appearance in a top team, Verstappen had made us understand his enormous potential with a historic victory which had actually increased the sensations about his role as predestined. So much for the "robot" pilot who grew up on bread and simulators.

On Sunday on an old-fashioned track like Interlagos we witnessed something that hadn't been seen for several years: a crazy comeback in extreme weather conditions. Red Bull's suicidal strategic choice to fit intermediate tires seemed to have had a negative impact on Verstappen's race, but instead the Dutchman rolled up his sleeves (as they say in jargon) transforming a mistake into open-stage applause, thus putting second floor the world championship challenge between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. About German. Nico should thank the "geniuses" of the Milton Keynes strategists because without that (senseless) choice he would certainly have shown up in Abu Dhabi, venue of the last world championship event of the season on November 27th, with a smaller advantage over Hamilton compared to the current 12 points.

Returning to Verstappen's comeback, what was most surprising was the determination, anger and that pinch of risk that paid off in the end. Had there been another driver driving the Red Bull number 33, perhaps he would have given up, given the track conditions and the accidents that had previously occurred to other drivers (one above all that of Kimi Raikkonen on the main straight), aware that little or no would have changed nothing about the economy of your season. And this is precisely the big difference between a normal rider and a top rider. Never feeling satisfied, never tamed, surpassing yourself even when it would be better to run in "defense".

Almost all the overtakings carried out by Verstappen during the comeback (11 in 15 laps, which took him from P14 occupied during the 55th lap to P3 at the end of the 70th lap) left all those who remained glued on Sunday afternoon speechless in front of the TV. The maneuvers on Ricciardo, Vettel (the good Sebastian doesn't mind, but in this case there wasn't the necessary motivation to complain about his young rival, author of a very clean overtaking at Subida do Boxes) and Perez amazed with the spontaneity, naturalness and ease with which they were performed. Precisely to the detriment of the Force India driver, the Dutchman had made an overtaking move on the outside of the field last year - again at Interlagos S of Senna which had delighted the crowd Brazilian. History repeated itself a year later even if in this case the difficulty coefficient was considerably greater for obvious reasons.

After theescalation completed on Sunday, the comparisons between Verstappen and the exploits of the greats of the past in similar conditions were certainly not long in coming, as often happens in these cases. Many have compared the Red Bull driver's performance to those achieved by Ayrton Senna with the Toleman in 1984 in Monte Carlo and with the McLaren in 1993 in Donington, with that first lap made by the Brazilian on the British track rightfully entered into the history books of Formula One. There was no lack of comparison with the performance either monstre by Michael Schumacher at Montmelò in 1996, which coincided with the first success in Ferrari of Kaiser. True, Verstappen has the stigmata of a champion (the writer really thinks so, ever since Max made his first cries in Formula One driving for Toro Rosso), but it is always difficult to make comparisons between drivers and single-seaters from completely different eras.

However, one thing is certain: time is on the young Dutchman's side and in the future he will be able to continue writing other beautiful sports pages like the one that took place on Sunday in Interlagos. Also because if Red Bull were to actually create a title-winning single-seater as early as next year (a possibility that absolutely cannot be ruled out, given that with the new regulation aerodynamics will once again become a fundamental component), Verstappen would not miss out on the opportunity to go in search of the maximum prize at stake, possibly also achieving another record: that of the youngest world champion driver in the history of Formula One. It would be good news for the spectacle on the track, less so for Mercedes and Ferrari.

Piero Ladisa