Max Verstappen could already be crowned champion at the Las Vegas GP. According to former driver David Coulthard, the Dutchman stands out in pushing the boundaries of the sport, and explained why he is different at the moment from Lando Norris.
Entering the final tripleheader that begins this weekend in the United States, Verstappen has a 62-lead in the drivers' standings, and could put the final nail in Lando Norris' coffin already on Saturday night.
Las Vegas is also one of the biggest cities in the world of MMA and boxing events, therefore, Coulthard came up with a comparison between the two sports in The Red Flags podcast. "Max is Conor McGregor. He's UFC. And Lando at the moment is an incredibly talented boxer. But who's going to win if there was no rules in that? And it's going to be the guy that's going to, with the exception of eye gouging and testicle tickling, everything else goes," the former McLaren and Red Bull Racing driver began.
Schumacher, Senna and Verstappen are all 'villains'
According to Coulthard, every big champion has had these moments in their careers where they went for being aggressive on track. Ayrton Senna locked horns with Alain Prost in 1989 and 1990. Michael Schumacher crashed with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. The Briton only believes Lewis Hamilton stands out in that regard. "That's why he deserves to be in the same category as an Ayrton, a Michael. I say Lewis, but I put in brackets Lewis because Lewis actually has done it in a very, let's say, uncontroversial way."
"I know there was a contact with Max, in Max's first championship year at Silverstone, that's about as much on the edge contact I've seen from Lewis. He's a very clean racer, he manages to keep out of a lot of controversy through his career so he's this sort of anomaly in that group of the villains that you say," he added.
However, Coulthard does not believe it is a bad thing. "There's always going to be the ones that are seen as being a little bit on edge. But what they've actually done is redefined the modern era of where the line is. Michael did it. Ayrton did it. Max is doing it. And that's because every generation should be better. Now, better doesn't mean nicer. Better just means, they deliver," he concluded, underlining what makes a driver special in Formula One.
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I definitely think the 3 drivers named are or where more aggressive than Hamilton, but it is an exaggeration and underestimation of Hamilton to suggest he did not have these moments, not just in '21. Hamilton can be very ruthless and that is logical, because it is part of what makes a champion. The car and the comparative advantage play a role, we saw this with Verstappen also, who when his was fast enough was a lot 'cleaner'. Lastly, aggressive is one thing, but the skill to pull it off is an other. Just agression makes for a very different outcome!
Don't think i would want to be compared to Connor. He can't stay out of trouble and hasn't fought in the ring in 3 years.
Max beats Lando simply because he is faster, period. He can focus more and extract more from a car.
Not a Hamilton fan but he is one of the best as he drives with his head and keeps to the rules Max likes to make his own rules a bit like Schumacher future driver's will learn from these guys hopefully but the sport is getting a bit naff now gone are the days with less rules and aggressive overtaking was king
Now it's apex Dive-bombing. Not entertaining racing at all .
Well you can always watch paint dry if the racing it to "boring" for you. You know your guy is doing bad when you can't appreciate hard racing.
If apex Dive-bombing is what you enjoy, that's your perogative Mnr.
Clearly that shouldn't be blamed on Verstappen or any driver, but on the rules, design of the circuits and cars. Drivers do and should push things to the limits of said rules to win. Period! I don't enjoy quite a lot all that much, but at least there are some who actually manage to pass and defend!
"I say Lewis, but I put in brackets Lewis because Lewis actually has done it in a very, let's say, uncontroversial way."
Hm... in my opinion F1 is becoming more WWE lately, not really MMA. Most times it feels staged to improve excitement. Clamping down rules mid season, suspicious penalising... It's not really a fair straight fight for the whole year. Even the drivers are trying to get their rivals into penalties each corner to affect the outcome.
Mmm lando behind max because lando not a wdc driver he not got the mentality .and he had the fastes car for some time and not taken points off max
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