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Max Verstappen is a phenomenal talent. At the young age of 24, what he has been able to achieve in his career is astounding. In 2021, Verstappen went up against Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time F1 world champion, held his own and beat him in the end. This season, the young Red Bull driver is defending his crown in an entirely different set of technical regulations and has already notched up a win.
Yet, it's not all smooth sailing for the Red Bull driver as he has been subjected to a fair share of criticism. In this piece, we'll take a look at some of the criticisms faced by Max Verstappen in his career.
#3 The dubious finish to Max Verstappen's first title
Whether Max Verstappen likes it or not, there will always be a cloud hanging over his first title triumph in 2021. The debacle of the Abu Dhabi GP is one of the "Black Eye" moments for the sport.
Going into the last race of the season, both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were level on points. During the Abu Dhabi GP, before Michael Masi innocuously decided to interpret the rules differently and push for the race restart, Hamilton was all set to win his eighth title. The subsequent removal of Masi from the post of Race Director and the way FIA handled the aftermath made things all the more strange and has certainly taken the shine off Verstappen's first title.
Did Max Verstappen have more wins, more pole positions, or more laps led during the season? He did. Was he more consistent? Yes, he was. It, however, doesn't negate the fact that without Masi's intervention, Lewis Hamilton would have won the title last season. Verstappen's critics continue to hold that against the Red Bull driver.
#2 Far too aggressive at times
Max Verstappen's driving style has been considered by many as a throwback style similar to what Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna used to have in yesteryears. Not only is the Red Bull driver fast, but he is also a ruthless competitor on the track.
Ayrton Senna had famously said that if you don't go for a gap that exists, you're not a racing driver. Max Verstappen tends to follow that principle as well. Sometimes, however, the racing can get a tad too aggressive where, if the other driver doesn't yield, Verstappen would end up crashing into them.
Even Toto Wolff recently remarked that the Dutchman has a 'win it or bin it' approach to racing. During his battle with Lewis Hamilton last season, the latter had said that he drove differently around Verstappen. The Mercedes driver reasoned it by saying if you don't make a concession for what the Dutchman is going to do, then you end up crashing and compromising your race.
Due to this, it wasn't a surprise that Verstappen and Hamilton ended up clashing so many times on the track during the 2021 season. The 2022 season, however, has been comparatively lukewarm for the Red Bull driver, as he has exercised a certain level of caution while fighting for positions. Regardless, it will take some time before he gets rid of the tag of an "aggressive" driver.
#1 Questionable tactics during the title fight
The title fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in 2021 was one of the most intense in the history of the sport. There was nothing to choose between Red Bull and Mercedes in terms of the quality of the machinery. There was also nothing to separate Verstappen and Hamilton in terms of driver skills either.
During the final leg of the season, the Dutchman was desperately trying to defend his lead in the championship against Hamilton, who was staging a valiant comeback. It was during this stage that it did appear that Verstappen was finally capitulating under pressure.
He had been the more consistent driver throughout the season but he had also been massively unlucky as well. With the Briton cutting chunks of points out of his lead, it did appear that Verstappen became vulnerable in the last few races. The outcome of this vulnerability was that we had Verstappen pushing Hamilton off the track at the Brazilian GP.
We then had the infamous 2021 Saudi Arabian GP where Verstappen went off track at Turn 1 while defending his position. Subsequently, while trying to give up the position to Hamilton, both ended up colliding. The perception had become so severe that multiple sections of the media alleged that Verstappen could crash into the seven-time world champion in the last race of the season if that helped him win the championship.
While it wasn't entirely fair to levy such claims on the young Red Bull driver, some of his questionable tactics led to such opinions up and down the paddock. Were they justified or not? It's hard to say, but some of his actions while battling Lewis Hamilton did not help the case.
Max Verstappen is truly one of the best talents on the grid. With the throne, however, come the detractors. Are they justified? Are they even correct? That's one thing we'll let you decide.
