He is, without much doubt, among the fastest drivers out there on the current grid. The others being, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Riccardo, and Charles Leclerc as many would note. He also happens to be the main man at Red Bull, an outfit that welcomes you for as long as you are serving the team and consistently delivering on the points. For the moment you are found struggling- you can be promptly shown the door. Apart from that, at the moment, he also happens to be a single point away from none other than the best driver of the lot- Lewis Hamilton.
A smashing recent win at Imola, at the Italian heartland reaffirmed the fact that the 2021 world championship is indeed the prime battle between two menacing talents- the king of Grand Prix racing versus the charging bull from Red Bull. But truth be told, there’s no easy day ever for Max Verstappen!
The odds are, more often than not stacked against his favour: for Max Verstappen has to contend with the marauding charge of not one but two Mercedes’, the other being that of Valtteri Bottas, a driver he’s often got the measure of but it’s the key battles with Hamilton that often bring out the best from the man from the Netherlands.
In his half a decade career in the top annals of Grand Prix racing, Max Verstappen has successfully beaten his teammates but to beat the greatest current driver on the grid in Lewis Hamilton remains his long-term aim, a goal for which he wishes to stay on at Red Bull.
Here’s what the blue-eyed boy of Christian Horner had to say about his ambition and why he wishes to stay on for long at the mercurial Red Bull outfit:
“I’ve answered these things quite often. I feel really good in the team and there is no reason to change that anyway. Already before this [engine programme] came out, I’m happy where I am and I hope we can drive together for a very long time and yeah, there’s not much more to say.
It seems like it’s [the car has] been working quite well so far but again, this is a very different layout and it doesn’t mean that if you’re competitive in those two tracks that it will be perfect here; you still need to have a good set-up around here!”
But it must be said that a solitary win against Hamilton, something that Lewis, despite bagging a P2 would count as a defeat isn’t going to take Max Verstappen the long way; his immediate goal- and this is really a fan feeling- would be to accomplish, at least, two successive wins.
Such an effort might surely dent the confidence of the seven-time world champion it appears.
And what better way than by winning at the upcoming Portuguese Grand Prix, slated for this upcoming weekend?
So are you ready to stamp your authority at the Algarve International Circuit, Max Verstappen? How about firing the opening salvo by capturing pole?