Autosport Plus

The headache Verstappen is giving Red Bull

OPINION: Max Verstappen has been the only driver consistently able to live with the terrific pace shown by Mercedes in 2020, but has still only bested the Black Arrows once. Sooner or later, given his talent and expectations, something has to change

Alex Kalinauckas Oct 21, 2020, 3:50 PM

For lap after lap in the Eifel Grand Prix, it was the same story: the two Mercedes cars shot past Autosport's media centre vantage point parallel to the pit straight, chased relentlessly by a single rival.

Of course, Valtteri Bottas's off-track mistake and then MGU-H-induced retirement ended the metronomic feeling to the opening phase of Formula 1's most recent race, but Max Verstappen's determined pursuit did not change. He hustled his RB16 after Lewis Hamilton for the rest of the contest, in a different pace league to the rest.

Share Or Save This Story

Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.