Max Verstappen is a 2-time world champion who absolutely dominated the field in the recently concluded season. Breaking several world records and making some on the way, he has garnered the respect of all. However, there was a time when he was criticized for the same racing style and told to change it.

We know Max Verstappen pushes himself and tests the limits of his rivals on the track. He has, for lack of a better term, a hard-racing style, where he makes late lunges, sometimes pushing other drivers off the track while overtaking. We have even seen him make some late maneuvers while defending that are just enough to deter the attacker and not get penalized in the process himself too often.

When Max Verstappen refused to change his driving style

The 2018 season wasn’t a particularly memorable one for Max Verstappen. While he pushed himself to the limit to win 2 races, some mistakes cost him a couple of race wins. Sebastian Vettel too, was going through a season that inspired mixed emotions. While Vettel finished 2nd in the standings, he could have challenged for the 1st had it not been for some mistakes from him and some bad strategy calls from the team, Ferrari.

Verstappen and Vettel blamed each other for the collision in the Japanese GP. Max, after the incident, faced some calls to change his driving style. “You see even a four-time world champion [Sebastian Vettel] can make mistakes like that,” ESPN quoted him responding.

“People saying I had to change my driving style, to me that was all big bullsh*t, to be honest.”

“They don’t tell Sebastian to really change his driving style, I’ve never seen the headlines like that. At the end of the day, driving on the limit, sometimes over it to achieve the best out of it, especially at such high speeds… mistakes are easily done.”

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The Dutchman’s racing style is a polarizing topic to this date. Opinions depend on which side of the spectrum are you on- Verstappen supporter, or otherwise.

Lewis Hamilton and Christian Horner on Max Verstappen’s racing style

GQ recently did a story on their Athlete of the Year Max Verstappen. They quoted Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull team principal Christian Horner talking about his driving style in Formula 1.

Horner said, “Max’s best form of defense is attack.” 

Lewis, however, had a very different take on the subject. He told, “Max is kind of do-or-die. It’s like you’re either crashing or you’re not going by.” 

He continued, “I think he pushes it to the limit and probably beyond.”

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Whatever Red Bull’s golden boy is doing, it is working out well for him and his team. We don’t think they would want to change anything in his driving style, at least for now. Would you?