When coming up with a topic to focus on after Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was really the only choice.
It’s hard to accurately portray exactly how incredible his drive was at Interlagos without getting caught up in the hysteria that followed it but it really was special to watch.
Any driver in any car it didn’t matter, he was better than all of them, perhaps except Lewis Hamilton but we’ll gloss over that.
I could play devil’s advocate and point out he was in a Red Bull, the car most would agree generates the most downforce and he was on fresher wet-weather tyres for that final dash to the finish but again, we’ll gloss over that.
The simple fact is, on a soggy Sunday in Sao Paulo he brought sunshine to a race that threatened to turn into a very dark day indeed.
Those in charge at Race Control really didn’t know what to do when trying to assess the conditions. Decisions ranged from ‘it’s raining so we’ll delay the start and hope it dries up’ to ‘I know it’s looking a bit drier so we’ll red flag the race again’.
The boos and jeers that echoed around Interlagos highlighted the anger at an incompetent stewardship and Pirelli who’s full wet tyres are about as useful in the rain as a slick.
I understand Interlagos is ‘old-school’ and that the climb from Juncao to the start/ finish line probably doesn’t meet FIA safety standards in the wet but it was only the pressure to ensure the Brazilian fans got value for money and TV audiences actually got a show that prevented Charlie Whiting and Co. from packing up and going home.
Thanks to Verstappen, however, those frustrations can be limited to just a few paragraphs and instead we can focus on a race that showcased the skill of the drivers and highlighted why we all love F1.
There was a number of routes I was considering when trying to draw conclusions from the Dutchman’s race.
Does his performance highlight the moment he became ‘number one’ at Red Bull? Don’t forget he was behind Daniel Ricciardo when the race resumed and ended up five places ahead by the end.
In a year from now, could his race in Brazil be remembered as the moment that spurred him to a world title? After all, if Red Bull does build a car that can challenge Mercedes in 2017, and if he maintains the confidence that drive at Interlagos will give him, surely he will be the main threat to the Silver Arrows?!
But the area I decided to explore in greater detail is considering whether his inexperience is actually helping him in F1?
The teenager forged his own path into the sport and now he’s doing things his way as he makes his way to the top.
The problem with a lot of F1 drivers that have entered in recent years is they are all very generic, media trained robots who have been taught the exact same techniques and skills and therefore all drive the same way.
There’s very little flamboyancy out on track anymore because all the drivers have been told this is how you should do it, so they simply follow those instructions.
But Verstappen got to F1 so soon that he hasn’t had any of that and therefore is flamboyantly learning as he goes along.
Does it get him into trouble? Sure, but he’s learning the boundaries and that’s what other drivers don’t like.
Look at the topic of defensive driving, he pushed the limit with his actions, wasn’t penalised, therefore, knew what he could and could not do.
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen didn’t like it and complained until they got their own way. That’s right two guys with five world titles between them decided it was better to moan than simply get on with driving, no wonder the tag of superheroes that generations past used to have is failing to stick now.
It was the exact same story with his wet-weather driving on Sunday. While everyone else was trundling behind the Safety Car moaning, Verstappen was trying different lines and exploring the track looking for the grip.
It was like doing your homework before you’ve even started class and so, when the racing did get underway, he knew exactly where to go and produced two stunning moves into Turn 1 on Raikkonen and around Nico Rosberg at Turn 3.
This was a 19-year-old kid who has done a handful of wet races in his career and he was actually guiding the other drivers as to how to drive.
So by finding the different lines he knew how to be quick and then he learnt how to overtake in those conditions too.
His party trick became the sequence of corners from Bica de Pato, through Mergulho and into Juncao, because yes in the wet you can pass in different places!
Max’s move on Vettel was the prime example as a wider line through the first two turns gave him the momentum to go up the inside at Juncao, he did have the right to shove the German onto the outside kerb as well!
He repeated that move on Perez to claim the most remarkable of podium results and it was all just sublime to watch it unfold.
So yes, his inexperience and necessity to learn on the job is helping him become already one of the best drivers on the grid and with still his whole career ahead of him, it’s a very scary thought.
But it’s also a very happy thought because thanks to his heroics we will look back on the 2016 Brazilian GP as another wet-weather classic at Interlagos and a day Verstappen saved F1 from becoming a laughing stock once again.
