Spanish GP Debrief: Verstappen Stuns in Debut Victory

[Rob]

In an era when F1 struggles to entertain, this was a diamond in the rough. I am no longer on the fence about Max...he's the real deal. It was also a win-win-win for the sport. While I still believe Haas is the story of the year, Vettel was right -- the day belonged to Max. How can I deny him the title of "probably the next big thing" when he held off, in my opinion, the two best drivers in the world? Sure, you could say that Max got lucky with the Mercedes incident (actually, the sport got lucky), but to man-handle that cow-of-a-poor-excuse-for-a-racing machine lap after lap in sector three, dancing on a knife edge and not making a mistake under extreme pressure...well...that's the stuff of a potential champion, and worth its weight in 1000 "revamped" qualifying sessions or 20,0000 "competition" cautions. Most of us could not really see just how difficult this was, as Windsor explains below, quite accurately, I would imagine. Vindicated again was the genius of Red Bull. No, Toto, they aren't just an energy drink company. Vindicated further was Ferrari. Hey Nicamilton -- youth is nice, but it's no match for old age and treachery or a team like Ferrari pulling in the same direction, having the "we get it" gene in their DNA. Now, Bernie put your money to good use and crown Mercedes "#1" every year, give them loads of cash, and then let the people really passionate about racing play on.

 

[Kakusso]

Some say Max victory was luck. That is just removing his credit for a victory he deserves.
Some say Max won because Riccardo chose the wrong strategy. What they forget is that Riccardo was being caught by Max and Vettel at a very fast rate and Redbull had to react. So max was indeed faster than Riccardo.
Regarding Monaco, It is a circuit that requires a lot of experience and were it is easy to cook the rear tires so I don't have high expectations for Max there. But I beleave he will have a similar career in terms of achievements as did Mansel.
As for the Hamilton Rosberg incident, it was Hamilton's fault, but Rosberg move remind me of some noob players in multiplayer environment, a harsh move to defend is always very dangerous, putting in risk the integrity of both drivers.

 

[Vojko Music]

Some say Max victory was luck. That is just removing his credit for a victory he deserves.
Some say Max won because Riccardo chose the wrong strategy. What they forget is that Riccardo was being caught by Max and Vettel at a very fast rate and Redbull had to react. So max was indeed faster than Riccardo.
Regarding Monaco, It is a circuit that requires a lot of experience and were it is easy to cook the rear tires so I don't have high expectations for Max there. But I beleave he will have a similar career in terms of achievements as did Mansel.
As for the Hamilton Rosberg incident, it was Hamilton's fault, but Rosberg move remind me of some noob players in multiplayer environment, a harsh move to defend is always very dangerous, putting in risk the integrity of both drivers.

People can say whatever they want to but this was not a luck. He is a young talent who has a bright future with racing like he does IMO

I can say RB has the best combo of drivers. Ricciardo with that smile to the moon and lots of driving skills and Max with the potential and also lots of skills

 

[Ricoow]

His tyres should have gone off but held pace to the end (that's luck not skill)

 

[Kakusso]

Please remove Monaco from the F1 Calendar it has nothing to do with racing anymore. Impossible overtaking makes it a glamour parade nothing more.

 

[Rob]

Please remove Monaco from the F1 Calendar it has nothing to do with racing anymore. Impossible overtaking makes it a glamour parade nothing more.

 

[Marcin Siewierski]

Well done Max, great driver in the right machie, reminds me Robert Kubica just much more lucky...
Season will become much more interesting now. Go, go, go Red Bull!

 

[Cristian Haba]

That shot of the podium makes me feel old fml. I remember Kimi being a young punk in a Sauber, I remember Mika vs Michael. Where does the time go?

Chapeau Monsieur Max, well done. This blasts the season into afterburner imo, be prepared for full on Rosberg vs Hamilton battles. Beautiful move by Rosberg but cocked it up with the electrics quite bad. I would have said Hamilton at fault but Rosberg is too, racing incident was appropriate.

I was dreaming about breasts at 18, this guys is winning GPs, :\

 

[Martin Maaskant]

Stating that Max his win was pure luck is doing him and Red Bull wrong. Yes the dice rolled towards Ferrari and Red Bull bet then again every four of those drivers could win this one and Max did. That his tires lasted that long isn't luck. His race engineer at STR stated many times that Max is real gentle with his tires. He used that advantage to the fullest this race. Well done Max and well done Red Bull you both deserve the win. Enjoy it. And yes Cristian I'm also feeling old. I watched his dad race at Spa in the Benneton many many moons ago. I walked past the podium with Schumacher on the highest step. When we drove home I heard on the radio dat Schumacher was disqualified and Verstappen (Jos) got the third place. I think Max was in diapers around that time.

 

[Franske]

As a Jos and Max Verstappen fan I expected more podiums for Max.
Victories I don't know. But if Tag Heuer motor update is enough to close the gap to Mercedes even victories are not excluded. The rivalry between Rosberg and Hamilton will drive Mercedes
to madness.

 

[Erwin Greven]

I watched his dad race at Spa in the Benneton many many moons ago. I walked past the podium with Schumacher on the highest step. When we drove home I heard on the radio dat Schumacher was disqualified and Verstappen (Jos) got the third place. I think Max was in diapers around that time.

Max wasn't even born yet. The mentioned race was in 1994. Max is born in 1997.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Best motorsport weekend of my whole life. Still can't believe what happened

 

[sKooP]

No doubt Verstappen in a huge talent with a very promising future, but I also think that he got lucky here. His tyres should have gone off but held pace to the end (that's luck not skill) and Catalunya is a very tough track to overtake on so Kimi who had more pace just couldn't manage a pass. Not saying he didn't run a very good, fast and clean race, but IMO his win was as much good fortune as good management.

Keeping the tyres in shape is all about skill though... we know that from sim-racing right? Even his teammate's tyre punctured with less laps on them. I won't say he wasn't lucky at all, he was for sure, but he is just very good at keeping tyres in shape anyway. One slide or drift could have made it impossible for him to win the race, but he didn't. And with that pressure behind him... first time experiencing a race at pole position, one of the best drivers pretty close behind him for half the race... I would have gotten a heart attack from such a scenario... Hell, I almost did WATCHING the race

 

[Martin Maaskant]

Max wasn't even born yet. The mentioned race was in 1994. Max is born in 1997.

I'm getting old you are right. I was to lazy to check the dates.