Just a few years ago, Pastor “Crash”danado developed quite the reputation for taking too
many risks that ended up in too many crashes. He was unemployed the next year.
Now we have a new bad boy of F1. Max Verstappen is a menace.
Just two short days after another writer here at The F1 Newsletter defended Max’s driving “style,” we witnessed the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix. In that race, Max tried to pass Lewis on the outside of a turn and ended up in the grass. That was a poor decision, but at least Max pulled out of the attempt in time to avoid a collision.
Unfortunately, in the closing laps of the race, Max was back at it. There he recklessly dove into the inside of the hairpin turn at the end of the back straight and t-boned Sebastian Vettel. Vettel was on old slow tyres and wasn’t even trying to defend against Max. Vettel had just let Ricciardo pass. Max should have bided his time and passed Vettel a few corners later where there was actually room to make a pass. Even Max’s biggest (and most annoying) booster, his father Jost, admitted that Max’s move wasn’t wise. Max himself apologized immediately after the race to Vettel. But that’s too little, too late. With his immature crash, he compromised Vettel’s race finish.
I have to agree with Max’s teammate Ricciardo, who said after the Bahrain GP that Max’s driving shows immaturity. Max has been in F1 for 3 years. Immaturity is not an excuse anymore. Perhaps he should follow in the footsteps of Maldonado and find a different series to play bumper cars in next year.