Autosport 2021 Top 50: #2 Max Verstappen

There’s one reason why Max Verstappen ended up second on this list and not first. And it’s not down to his speed, his talent or his 10 victories not stacking up against the rest. It’s the way he drove – too aggressively, too often – in many of his wheel-to-wheel fights with Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen was, in many ways, the driver of the season. With Red Bull finally back in a title fight, he led the line as the contender it had long been suggested he would be.

His high-pressure victory at Zandvoort in front of his home supporters was sublime. His wins in Monaco and Austria were utterly dominant, plus he handed Mercedes a stunning defeat at its former stronghold of Paul Ricard, at one point before the summer looking like he might run away with the title. His double-pass on the Mercedes pair in Mexico was the move of the season.

Verstappen remained the only driver who could really handle the tricky RB16B package, where his immense adaptability meant he was better equipped to cope with rear-end instability – which was much improved compared to 2020 – and the evolving challenge with the tyres. Verstappen just did, while team-mate Sergio Perez was constantly working up to the car’s level. Uncomfortable was the only way to be fast in the RB16B, as Perez discovered, but Verstappen just dealt with it.

His 10 poles were the most of any driver, confirming the Red Bull package’s place as the season’s best, even if the team occasionally squandered that advantage. Verstappen’s speed has never been in question, but his season was peppered with little errors – slipping off the road passing Hamilton in Bahrain and never getting another chance to win there; doing so when running in front of him in Portugal and falling behind; dipping a wheel on the grass at Imola and losing pole; throwing away the early lead in France and having to battle back.

Turn 1 move on the Mercedes pair in Mexico was the pass of the season, but over-aggression costs Verstappen top spot in Autosport's top 50

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

His Q3 crash in Jeddah was the best example of this. Verstappen delivered 90% of potentially one of F1’s best-ever qualifying laps, but made a minor lock-up at the final corner and couldn’t accept it, booting the car out of the hairpin when it was too wide and hitting the wall when the gripless rear kicked out. There was a sense that a moment to win the title had been lost, but his response in Abu Dhabi qualifying was majestic.

Autosport says

During a run of form where Verstappen seemed irresistible, who would head our top 50 wasn’t a debate – the Dutchman was clearly the best driver. But that view slowly changed. It really started after the Monza crash with Lewis Hamilton, because that ugly incident extended a run of clashes between the pair where Verstappen had been overly aggressive.

At Imola Hamilton had been trying to hang on around the outside line, but Verstappen was ruthless in seeing him out of road (as was his right). But at Barcelona his Turn 1 pass required Hamilton to turn out of contact. At Silverstone the roles were reversed, with Hamilton rightly penalised, but it was a close call. At Monza both had a chance to back out, but Verstappen’s unwillingness to accept the situation after a slow stop had dropped him out of the victory fight ultimately led to what could have been a very nasty outcome.

Brazil was a key moment. Verstappen’s actions in the Turn 4 incident were as aggressive as F1 had come to expect, but by sliding wide – he blamed worn tyres – he left himself vulnerable to an officiating call that never came. And that led to the unedifying display in Jeddah because, from Verstappen’s point of view, he could go up to that line (over the real white ones) and it was fine. Except it never was.

You could sense Hamilton’s exasperation over repeated moves of such intense aggression in the shove he gave back after their bizarre crash ahead of the final corner. It’s a feeling many shared – that Verstappen was just going too far, with no respect for fair play.

PLUS: The line Verstappen finally crossed in F1's first Jeddah race

He is seemingly willing to do whatever it takes to win, although not as outrageously as some in F1 history, but it’s why the FIA was wrong not to intervene in Brazil. He’s so fast, so talented, so unbelievably mentally adept in the most intense racing situations, that he is a deserving champion and would be number one in this list. But all those incidents count for too much of what isn’t acceptable in motorsport.