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A record crowd flocked to Spa-Francorchamps hoping to see Max Verstappen claim his second career victory on the weekend.
Their hopes were dashed when he couldn’t even scrape into the points, but his antics on the track have tongues wagging, most notably his rivals in the Ferrari garage.
Sebastian Vettel was unhappy about the incident at the opening corner, while Kimi Raikkonen was more concerned with a twitchy, last-minute defensive move on the Kemmel Straight.
“Come on, this is f**king ridiculous now,” complained Raikkonen over the radio, “he’s just f**king turning when I’m at full speed.”
Even Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff weighed in, saying Verstappen’s aggression was “refreshing, but it is dangerous.”
Never one to take a backward step, Verstappen returned fire, saying that the Ferrari drivers should “ashamed of themselves” for causing the first-corner incident, insisting that drivers of their experience should have been able to race cleanly.
Of all Verstappen’s questionable manoeuvres, his overtake of Raikkonen heading into Les Combes was perhaps the most contentious.
Replays show the Finn entered the braking zone a full car length ahead of Verstappen, who then braked as late as possible to pull slightly ahead at the apex of the right hander. Ahead at this point and entitled to claim the racing line, Verstappen left his opponent no room on the outside and nudged him off the track.
Braking so late meant that Verstappen needed all the lock his steering wheel could muster to make the exit, and after some minor contact with the Ferrari he had to rebalance the car, and ended up drifting across the following apex and briefly leaving the track.
Each incident, in isolation, is defendable, and doesn’t warrant penalties to the letter of the regulations. On the whole though, they form a picture of a driver pushing his opponents and the regulations to the limit.
Certainly F1 fans have been waiting for the arrival of someone like Verstappen, who has brought exciting overtakes and aggressive defensive moves back to the sport. (Click to Tweet)
But unlike Max, well-rounded and so-called ‘complete’ drivers demonstrate controlled aggression. They choose their battles wisely and avoid unnecessary scraps on the track. After all, there aren’t many hiding places in an F1 paddock.
It is conspicuous that Verstappen hasn’t fallen afoul of the stewards lately, especially considering that he was recently the driver with the most penalty points against his super licence.
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has accused the FIA of trying to “protect” Verstappen to cultivate his appeal with fans and sponsors alike.
“Look in Germany,” insisted Villeneuve, “he weaved on the straight, so Nico missed his braking [point]. They go a bit wide – Nico gets a penalty.”
Although I certainly wouldn’t agree that there’s a conspiracy behind his treatment from the stewards, I find myself questioning their leniency more often than I care to admit.
Besides, Verstappen’s attacking approach is most like triggering flashbacks for Villeneuve, who swapped paint with another winner-takes-all driver, in the form of Michael Schumacher.
Verstappen is still a developing driver with the potential to find even more speed and race-craft, but somewhere along the line he’ll be forced to choose: does he want to be a hero or the villain?
The debate over whether Max should target modest but respectable achievements like Villeneuve, or go for broke and turn friends into foe will continue up and down the paddock.
Personally, I’m holding out for a hero.
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