Rocky F185
50
Young Mad Max
Well now, Max has messed up yet again. It seems he has still not figured out to harness all that talent that he obviously has. How can this be you might ask ? I lay a large majority of the blame on his Father, Jos the Boss. IMHO, it is wrong to blame Horner and Marko for his over exuberant driving. Let's examine this a bit more.
When Jos Verstappen got his big break in F1, he drove for the Benetton F1 team, and a certain Michael Schumacher was not only his team mate, but also his hero. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Please, allow me to explain. Before Schumacher, there was a certain Brazilian F1 star by the name of Ayrton Senna. Senna broke on to the F1 scene way back in 1984, having signed a driving contract with Toleman. The car was not that competitive, but Senna's talent quickly got him noticed. So much so, he almost won Monaco in that first year, dueling with Prost for the victory in extremely wet and dangerous conditions. The race was red flagged by Jackie Ickx - the Chief FIA Course Marshal, half points were awarded because it was still not half distance yet, and Prost ended up winning his first F1 title that year by 1/2 a point over Niki Lauda. Senna left Toleman at season end, and was signed by Lotus for the following year, 1985. Yet again gentle reader, I digress.
Up to this point, F1 had never seen a talent or personality like Senna. He really transformed the sport. The problem is, Senna transformed the sport in some good ways, but also in some very bad ways. Before his arrival, drivers had a certain measure or respect for other drivers, and didn't purposely crash into each other. Yes there were racing incidents, but not like the present. Jack Brabham didn't get the nickname "Black Jack" from playing cards. Capiche ? Driver's of that era drove hard, but generally gave each other space to race. Senna stormed on to the F1 scene, and everything changed after that. Senna was smart and arrogant enough to realize that if he could intimidate the entire field, his fellow drivers would stay clear of him, getting out out his way whenever they saw him in their mirrors.And if they didn't oblige, Senna wouldn't hesitate to punt you off the track. Many young, aspiring and highly impressionable drivers stood up and took notice. They all wanted to be like their hero.
Senna was blindingly fast. During qualifying especially, he was an absolute savage. I still remember when he was team mates with Prost at Mclaren. The year was 1988. The race, Monaco. Prost had set an impressive lap time to grab pole position. Then Senna went out, and beat Prost's time by 1.4 seconds! The entire pit lane was stunned. The lap time was so fast, Prost didn't even bother climbing back in to his car to make an attempt to beat it. Why? Because he knew that it was simply impossible to beat Senna's time. Later interviewed, Senna claimed that he had experienced a divine out of body experience on that qualifying lap, enabling him to set such a stunningly fast time. For the record, this was also the race where Senna crashed while leading the race from Prost on the closing laps, on the corner just before the tunnel. Senna lived in Monaco, jumped out of his car in disgust, and walked home to his apartment. Nobody knew where he went, and even Jo Ramirez was unable to find him until much later that evening.
During those halcyon years, when Senna and Prost reigned supreme, I had the privilege of meeting and sitting down with many of the top drivers, including Senna. I first talked to him at the Mexican Grand Prix in 1986, when he was contracted to Lotus. Senna absolutely despised anybody from the press. At that time, I had an FIA credentialed press pass, giving me unfettered access at the track. Hence, Senna was immediately distrustful and somewhat openly hostile towards me. As a matter of fact, he was a consummate asshole, to put it bluntly. He eventually became so arrogant that he no longer gave interviews to anybody, unless it was at a team or FIA press conference. Somehow, because of who he is, Jackie Stewart was able to arrange an on camera interview with Senna. Needless to say, it didn't play out well.... 
After Senna's death on this very date (May 1) in 1994, Schumacher emerged as the next one to take the mantle of the foremost Alpha Male F1 driver. Schumacher was a huge Senna fan. He had keenly studied Senna's race craft, and desperately wanted to emulate him. After his death, Schumacher took all this to a higher level. It was all about gaining an advantage on your competition, and that is exactly what he did. Problem is, Schumacher turned into a huge prima donna himself. Moreover, if Schumacher could cheat to gain an advantage, he had no problem with that. I will say that whenever I had the privilege of sitting down with Schumacher a few times, he had a respectful charming personality, and did not openly despise people approaching him, credentialed.or not.
Prost on Senna:
Fast forward to the present, and F1's not so new golden boy, Max Verstappen. Because of the enormous lasting impression from the likes of Senna, Schumacher, and his Father, Jos, Max seems to think that it's perfectly OK to drive like his heroes. Moreover, it appears that young Max is more than willing to take it to the next level, just like his heroes did. As always, it's all about gaining an advantage over your competition, come hell or high water. Welcome to the Billionaire Boy's Club called Formula One.
Sad but true.
Cheers,
Rocky
Well...in this case it seems that RIC went for a gap that wasn’t there.
Whatever happened it is dumb move because this is how you take yourself out of the WC. And giving free points away. Nevertheless Verstappen would be wise if he acted a bit more gently. First establish yourself, than be the hard nut to crack.
From Day 1, M. Verstappen has been irresponsible and dangerous to other drivers
He has been reported multiple times for double-moving when under pressure. His victims have been respected world champions and experienced drivers, whose opinions are valid: Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton. Now, it's Ricciardo, who is a better over...
Agree 1000%
Kid must learn the lesson, but being the Red Bull's star won't affect him so much. He always moves inside and outside, no matter what the rules say. The fact he's nearly always involved in a car accident should be an alarming evidence.
In the old days defending was considered an art. Remember? DRS should be banned ASAP.
In my book if you hit someone head on from behind your the one at fault. Basic driving rules.
Exactly
And exactly what Ricciardo knew as well. Especially with that strong wind. But the officials will let us know what kind of accident it was.
Rule makers are off track. On track it's about trust.
Whatever the external judges outcome, the important people are fellow drivers on track. Their lives depend on trust. Trust that some idiot doesn't kill them. When 4 world champions with multiple wins say you are untrustworthy, it means something. Regards,...
These are the F1 rules
You can say what you want, but once you had moved to defend ONE side, you must keep it. Likely Max still thinks to be driving in the old days. Ricciardo was fast because he was overtaking him in the inside....the crash is just the consequence of Max wrong...
If you hit someone head on from behind....
But it is under investigation so the experts will judge.
I don’t think Max played it fully correct.
Then again, it’s racing and stuff happens.
Unfortunate...
But Ricciardo remains my favourite driver... But I'm also happy that Hamilton won
Arie..... you nailed it...AGAIN.
Just about every time there is some dispute, you seem to evaluate the outcome perfectly. Are you some type of expert?
I'd like to think that I'm good enough.
If my last name was Trump I would have said: the best.
funny....as many say that you are a
"mythic legend" in this field. Obviously, you yourself would never describe yourself in such terms as that would be....well.....
From this moment i will use this terminology describing my abilities.
Perhaps I should print it on my business cards as well.
The best F1 season start of the Last 10 years.
And these kind of things are part of F1 racing aswell. Max should Take Out Lewis next time. It's even then. 🤔
No winners here .
The team , max and ricciardo are losing precious points . But you dont need a team mate to eliminate yourself behind the safety car 😬 ...
I think everyone can have opinions, but the rules are 100% clear:
You are not allowed to move twice - period. Max moved first right and then left. This guy has a huge character flaw or weakness. Flaw in case he cannot understand that actually there are better drivers than him and weakness in case he is such a pain to ov...
Give the boy some time. We have already seen some great stuff.
I can recall Hamilton ending up in the pit entry gravel and essentially losing the WC right there. ‘07? Look at him now.
Hi Arie
He is now in his 4th season. I don't buy into the 'boy' thing. He is not boy when he signs a man's contract or wants to be treated as n.1 driver, but he is boy every time he crashes (i.e. every weekend this year). Speaking of Lewis, it was in his 1st year...
www.crashstappen.com
Time will tell if he develops in the right direction. And I agree with you, it is season 4 already.
A simple rule, one deviation allowed off racing line at
each individual corner per lap, correct? Or maybe he thinks you can save them up and use them all at once? I thought rule was clear.
They are both excellent and competitive
Niki Lauda says 70% V 30% R I would say its 50% v 50%. Let them learn, mature and compete.
Lauda says many things
But it is clear that Verstappen is a bit ‘dirtier’ than Ricciardo. Ricciardo is mature enough already. But that comes with age doesn’t it ;-)
Young Mad Max
Well now, Max has messed up yet again. It seems he has still not figured out to harness all that talent that he obviously has. How can this be you might ask ? I lay a large majority of the blame on his Father, Jos the Boss. IMHO, it is wrong to blame Horn...
Still I do not understand that C. Horner didn't simply told them both at their last pit stop: ”you have had your fun boys, now bring the cars home and stop fucking around”.
It was so obvious something bad was going to happen even a blind man would have seen that. I however do partially agree with you that Jos could be part of the hotheadedness ‘problem’. Although I must say that Max has been much calmer than his father ever ...
The Red Bullies
In a post race interview, Horner stated that during the pre-race briefing which both Red Bull drivers attended, clear instructions were given that they were free to race, but as always were warned to not take each other out. Obviously, Horner did not feel...
Yes I know, I have read and seen it all.
But do you think that really is it? Fear for ‘embarrassment’?? If so I’m surprised (once again) about the stupidity of the human ego.
The Red Bullies and the Billionaire Boy's Club - The Never Ending Saga
Yes Arie, I honestly believe this to be the case. Besides, even if Horner had gotten on the radio asking Verstappen to let Ricciardo pass, do you really think young Max would have said, OK no problem ? IMHO, absolutely not. Max, with his Alpha male turbo-...
All big sports are more than sports. Business.
Putting all this aside, I still have the idea that if the FIA would ban the DRS and get 2 - 4 mtr of gravel directly next to the white line marking the end of the tracks wherever possible a lot of this bs would be gone. Because a mistake would cost you de...