Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen’s Arrogance Called Out After Mercedes Drubbing: “How Do You Deal With…”

Former F1 driver Robert Doornbos recently opened up on Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s decisions for the sprint in Brazil. The Formula 1 analyst is of the opinion that Verstappen and his team have been arrogant over their choice of tires. Having superior speed, Doornbos thinks, the Dutch driver and his team have not been respectful of the circumstances.

In a conversation with Ziggo Sport, the former F1 driver stated, “You can almost call it an arrogant choice to say: I have so much overspeed, I will overtake Magnussen and disappear on the horizon.” [Translated using Google]

“Obviously, you don’t make a pit stop, so how do you deal with the wear and tear? We know that Max is kind of a tire whisperer, but he just didn’t really get them up to temperature,” further stated Doornbos.

On this, Doornbos again said, “In a sprint race, you know that you actually have to choose that soft tire.”

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He probably said so because the sprint is a short race and there is hardly any need for pits until a car has serious damage on its tires or body parts.

What happened with Max Verstappen in Brazil so far?

Max Verstappen has not been his best in the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend so far. The Dutchman qualified for Saturday’s sprint in P2 after Kevin Magnussen of Haas took the surprise pole. The rain-affected qualifying sessions saw Verstappen fall short to pick up the top starting spot.

Mercedes’ George Russell beached his car and brought out the red flag. This took away Verstappen’s chances for the pole. Nevertheless, the Dutchman had a good start to the sprint. Even though Magnussen had a better start and extended his lead, it was not long until the two-time world champion caught him on the straight.

However, the interesting part of the sprint race started to unfold when Russell came from behind and challenged Verstappen for the lead. After some tussles, the Mercedes man was able to overtake the Red Bull driver. Verstappen, who was on mediums, had a slight disadvantage against Russell on soft tires.

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Soon after Russell overtook Verstappen, Sainz and Hamilton followed suit. In the end, Max Verstappen finished the sprint in P4 ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez. But can he make things right with the upcoming race?