Christian Klin, a former Formula 1 driver turned pundit for Austrian TV, was featured on the F1 Nation podcast after the Japanese Grand Prix and of course praised the performance of Max Verstappen, now two-time world champion.
Christian Wedge: “Max dominated almost the entire season and showed that again in Suzuka. The first start of the race he did not do well, Charles Leclerc had a better start and his car was on the inside of the track before the first corner.
But then Max got ahead of him in the outer radius with the old go-kart trick. Of course the track conditions were difficult and I have no doubt that he had the idea to win the championship, but it was not noticeable from the outside. Looks like he just has nerves of steel!
This season Max has become a more mature professional, he drivers in a more relaxed way, anticipates the development of events in the race more accurately, controls tire wear perfectly. Sometimes he is not in a hurry to catch up, he takes a wait-and-see attitude, because he has become smarter and more patient – in the end you can get results with all this.
Charles Leclerc often started in races from higher positions, but Max managed to do everything right and stay ahead of him on the track. Overall, it seems to me that his racing prowess has gotten much higher.
His best race this season in my opinion was the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. I remember being impressed at the time that he was much faster than his rivals from the start of Friday practice. His first lap at the qualifying pace he was 2.5 seconds faster than anyone else.
That. as soon as he left the track he immediately felt how comfortable he was to drive, and all weekend his superiority was just amazing. He did a great job in the race, made some brilliant overtakes and I would say Max and his car were one.
I think Max knew he was going to win the championship this year, and the fact that he did it in Japan, at Honda’s home circuit, was kind of icing on the cake. The Japanese drivers have made a huge contribution to Red Bull Racing’s success and the Suzuka win was part of the ideal scenario. And I have no doubt that he may break the record for number of wins in a season.
Although, given how the championship started for him and for Red Bull, it was hard to imagine that they would gain such an impressive advantage, but then they turned the tide.
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
