Windsor: 'Verstappen had father, Piquet, Marko and Horner in his head'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Peter Windsor analyses Max Verstappen's last race, in which he claimed the 2021 world title. The Brit saw the aggressive Verstappen he always saw and thinks the Dutchman's head was packed with tips, commands and judgments from the figures around him.
Verstappen has enough quality to be aggressive
Windsor talks in the In the Fast Lane podcast about the 2021 season denouement. The F1 journalist and former F1 sponsor manager was an early fan of Verstappen; when the Dutchman drove in F3 to be exact. Windsor mentions that in his earlier years in F1, Verstappen was criticized for his aggression. "I never went along with that. I felt at the time that he had the talent and the driving skills to do what he did."
At the end of the 2021 season, the tension in the battle between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton ran very high. Verstappen showed that on the track with aggressive distributive manoeuvres. In Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, he showed his most aggressive side. Windsor says he knows exactly why.
Difficult psychological situation Verstappen
"Jos was in his head, and he is very aggressive. Nelson Piquet was in his head, who undoubtedly offers him tips from his private life. Helmut Marko and Christian Horner were also in his head. " Windsor concludes that this put Verstappen in a particularly difficult psychological situation. After all, according to the Brit, these men do not let people walk all over them.
Windsor can imagine that it was all too much for Verstappen at the end of the season, during the last GPs. The Brit cites the media war between Toto Wolff and Horner, in which the Red Bull Racing team boss said he thinks Verstappen is a better driver than Hamilton. "Just think what a comment like that does to someone mentally," he said.