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Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The Verstappen problem that F1 fails to acknowledge
For years, the Formula 1 paddock has been praising Max Verstappen – and rightfully so. Everyone is aware of his glorious achievements and his remarkable record. The Red Bull driver keeps amazing crowds with his talent – utterly dominating seasons, grabbing pole positions when his car shouldn't be in contention, winning races as a dark horse, or making unlikely overtaking moves stick. Verstappen's racecraft is exceptional. Just look at the way he snatched the lead from Oscar Piastri at the start of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – few drivers actually are able to achieve such a masterful move. It was audacious, confident, precise, clever – exactly the skills the Dutchman can use to get what he wants. Advertisement The thing is, there's a dark side to Verstappen. He doesn't even really conceal it, but many in the media, his team and his fanbase pretend not to be aware of it – or just ignore it. This dark side emerged again on Sunday under intense pressure. After his team asked him to let George Russell through in the Spanish GP, Verstappen slowed down until the Mercedes driver was alongside him, then reaccelerated to hit the Silver Arrow. No honest person can truthfully believe this was anything but deliberate; there is no doubt about it, no possible nuance. Yet, the stewards handled it by handing Verstappen a similar penalty to those given to good-faith racers accidentally causing collisions. A single occurrence of such a foul move is already a problem but could be forgiven; after all, Sebastian Vettel did cross a line when he intentionally collided with Lewis Hamilton in Baku in 2017, which led to a 10-second stop-go penalty. But this isn't the first time we've witnessed Verstappen's unsportsmanlike driving. Verstappen brake-tested Hamilton in a tense Saudi Arabian GP in 2021 – an uncouth attempt at taking his title rival out of the race – and repeatedly runs his rivals off the track, like Hamilton in the 2021 Brazilian GP or Lando Norris in the 2024 Mexico race. He doesn't mind losing places in the process, as long as his opponent loses more. Advertisement The governing bodies have undeniably failed to address how frequent and intentional Verstappen's behavior is, and they won't even connect the dots to call a spade 'a spade' – to call a deliberate move 'a deliberate move'. Whether they're ignoring it on purpose or through thoughtlessness, nobody knows. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images The stewards' decision regarding the clash with Russell at Barcelona left much unsaid: 'The driver of Car 1 was clearly unhappy with his team's request to give the position back. At the approach to Turn 5, Car 1 significantly reduced its speed thereby appearing to allow Car 63 to overtake. However, after Car 63 got ahead of Car 1 at the entry of Turn 5, Car 1 suddenly accelerated and collided with Car 63. Advertisement 'The collision was undoubtedly caused by the actions of Car 1.' It is standard terminology – though somewhat comical in this context – for stewards to refer to the 'car' instead of the driver, but that's besides the point: they decided not to draw the logical conclusion from their reasoning. Everything in Verstappen's driving shows he intended to hit Russell, so he should have been disciplined taking into account how serious such an act is in racing. One week prior, in Monaco, stewards established that Russell had 'deliberately' cut the chicane – which is unsportsmanlike but much less dangerous – and they had no qualms about cracking down on the Mercedes driver with a drive-through penalty instead of the usual five or 10 seconds. At Barcelona, the situation was crystal-clear, yet Verstappen got a standard penalty, more lenient than Russell's in Monaco. Well, not completely standard as he got three penalty points on his licence instead of two. Go figure. Advertisement Verstappen has always been an extremely polarizing character, ever since his high-profile F1 debut at just 17 years of age. Many believe – or pretend to – that's just due to his elbows-out racing style, viewed as a logical symptom of his hunger for victory. However, his actions often go far beyond 'hard but fair', and he obviously stands by them given the way he usually speaks post-race. Some will be keen to deem the Spanish GP incident a mere instance of briefly losing composure, yet it just adds to all previous episodes, when Verstappen didn't get the penalties he deserved. Surely the four-time world champion, who naturally is an extremely confident athlete, is aware – more or less consciously – that when he acts this way, he never loses out. Read Also: Why is it so difficult for F1 drivers to say they're sorry? When anger and desperation take over: F1's most controversial clashes Advertisement Penalties on a case-by-case basis have never solved the problem, as his senseless Barcelona move shows. Verstappen brilliantly makes the most of the system's grey areas when he deems it necessary or feels disrespected, taking things way beyond the limits. This is not about whether a move was completed with four wheels off the track, if a driver moved under braking or who was ahead at the apex. This is about colliding on purpose – unsportsmanlike behavior onboard 800kg cars reaching 200mph. The Verstappen problem is a serious one, and the governing bodies must now diligently address it. To read more articles visit our website.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Oscar winner out to emulate Senna's four-in-a-row
Oscar Piastri's extraordinary 2025 surge from McLaren support act to Formula One's leading man could take him into rarefied air this weekend at the storied Imola circuit in Italy. After three successive victories in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, the next aim for the soaring Victorian is to make it four-in-a-row at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, a run that only 15 of the sport's greatest drivers, world champions all, have ever achieved or surpassed. And of that illustrious list, only one - the late, great Ayrton Senna - ever achieved the feat for the McLaren team that the 24-year-old Aussie is currently spearheading. Senna, the 31st anniversary of whose death at Imola will doubtless be marked there as emotionally as ever this weekend, achieved four straight for McLaren on two occasions, the last in 1991 when he opened the season with wins at the US GP, his home Brazilian GP, then at Imola in the San Marino GP and, finally, at Monaco. Senna went on to comfortably win the title that year, just as he triumphed in 1988 when he he won the British, German, Hungarian, and Belgian GPs in succession. No driver has achieved a quartet of wins on the bounce since world champion Max Verstappen's nine-straight, which straddled the end of the 2023 season and early last year. And four in a row has only ever been achieved by one Australian driver - the great Jack Brabham, who achieved the feat in 1966 but who'd actually gone one better than that when winning his second world title in 1960, taking victory in five successive races. THE DRIVERS WHO'VE WON FOUR OR MORE F1 GRANDS PRIX IN A ROW: * Max Verstappen - 10 in a row (2023) - (Also runs of 9 and 5) * Sebastian Vettel - 9 (2013) - (also two runs of 4) * Alberto Ascari - 7 (1952-53) * Michael Schumacher - 7 (2004) - (also runs of 6, 5 and two 4s) * Nico Rosberg - 7 (2015-16) * Jack Brabham - 5 (1960) - (Also run of 4) * Lewis Hamilton - 5 (2014 and in 2020) - (Also five runs of 4) * Jim Clark - 5 (1965) - (Also one run of 4) * Nigel Mansell - 5 (1992) * Jochen Rindt - 4 (1970) * Ayrton Senna - 4 (1988 and 1991) * Alain Prost - 4 (1993) * Damon Hill - 4 (1995-96) * Fernando Alonso - 4 (2006) * Jenson Button - 4 (2009)
The Advertiser
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Advertiser
Oscar winner out to emulate Senna's four-in-a-row
Oscar Piastri's extraordinary 2025 surge from McLaren support act to Formula One's leading man could take him into rarefied air this weekend at the storied Imola circuit in Italy. After three successive victories in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, the next aim for the soaring Victorian is to make it four-in-a-row at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, a run that only 15 of the sport's greatest drivers, world champions all, have ever achieved or surpassed. And of that illustrious list, only one - the late, great Ayrton Senna - ever achieved the feat for the McLaren team that the 24-year-old Aussie is currently spearheading. Senna, the 31st anniversary of whose death at Imola will doubtless be marked there as emotionally as ever this weekend, achieved four straight for McLaren on two occasions, the last in 1991 when he opened the season with wins at the US GP, his home Brazilian GP, then at Imola in the San Marino GP and, finally, at Monaco. Senna went on to comfortably win the title that year, just as he triumphed in 1988 when he he won the British, German, Hungarian, and Belgian GPs in succession. No driver has achieved a quartet of wins on the bounce since world champion Max Verstappen's nine-straight, which straddled the end of the 2023 season and early last year. And four in a row has only ever been achieved by one Australian driver - the great Jack Brabham, who achieved the feat in 1966 but who'd actually gone one better than that when winning his second world title in 1960, taking victory in five successive races. THE DRIVERS WHO'VE WON FOUR OR MORE F1 GRANDS PRIX IN A ROW: * Max Verstappen - 10 in a row (2023) - (Also runs of 9 and 5) * Sebastian Vettel - 9 (2013) - (also two runs of 4) * Alberto Ascari - 7 (1952-53) * Michael Schumacher - 7 (2004) - (also runs of 6, 5 and two 4s) * Nico Rosberg - 7 (2015-16) * Jack Brabham - 5 (1960) - (Also run of 4) * Lewis Hamilton - 5 (2014 and in 2020) - (Also five runs of 4) * Jim Clark - 5 (1965) - (Also one run of 4) * Nigel Mansell - 5 (1992) * Jochen Rindt - 4 (1970) * Ayrton Senna - 4 (1988 and 1991) * Alain Prost - 4 (1993) * Damon Hill - 4 (1995-96) * Fernando Alonso - 4 (2006) * Jenson Button - 4 (2009) Oscar Piastri's extraordinary 2025 surge from McLaren support act to Formula One's leading man could take him into rarefied air this weekend at the storied Imola circuit in Italy. After three successive victories in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, the next aim for the soaring Victorian is to make it four-in-a-row at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, a run that only 15 of the sport's greatest drivers, world champions all, have ever achieved or surpassed. And of that illustrious list, only one - the late, great Ayrton Senna - ever achieved the feat for the McLaren team that the 24-year-old Aussie is currently spearheading. Senna, the 31st anniversary of whose death at Imola will doubtless be marked there as emotionally as ever this weekend, achieved four straight for McLaren on two occasions, the last in 1991 when he opened the season with wins at the US GP, his home Brazilian GP, then at Imola in the San Marino GP and, finally, at Monaco. Senna went on to comfortably win the title that year, just as he triumphed in 1988 when he he won the British, German, Hungarian, and Belgian GPs in succession. No driver has achieved a quartet of wins on the bounce since world champion Max Verstappen's nine-straight, which straddled the end of the 2023 season and early last year. And four in a row has only ever been achieved by one Australian driver - the great Jack Brabham, who achieved the feat in 1966 but who'd actually gone one better than that when winning his second world title in 1960, taking victory in five successive races. THE DRIVERS WHO'VE WON FOUR OR MORE F1 GRANDS PRIX IN A ROW: * Max Verstappen - 10 in a row (2023) - (Also runs of 9 and 5) * Sebastian Vettel - 9 (2013) - (also two runs of 4) * Alberto Ascari - 7 (1952-53) * Michael Schumacher - 7 (2004) - (also runs of 6, 5 and two 4s) * Nico Rosberg - 7 (2015-16) * Jack Brabham - 5 (1960) - (Also run of 4) * Lewis Hamilton - 5 (2014 and in 2020) - (Also five runs of 4) * Jim Clark - 5 (1965) - (Also one run of 4) * Nigel Mansell - 5 (1992) * Jochen Rindt - 4 (1970) * Ayrton Senna - 4 (1988 and 1991) * Alain Prost - 4 (1993) * Damon Hill - 4 (1995-96) * Fernando Alonso - 4 (2006) * Jenson Button - 4 (2009) Oscar Piastri's extraordinary 2025 surge from McLaren support act to Formula One's leading man could take him into rarefied air this weekend at the storied Imola circuit in Italy. After three successive victories in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, the next aim for the soaring Victorian is to make it four-in-a-row at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, a run that only 15 of the sport's greatest drivers, world champions all, have ever achieved or surpassed. And of that illustrious list, only one - the late, great Ayrton Senna - ever achieved the feat for the McLaren team that the 24-year-old Aussie is currently spearheading. Senna, the 31st anniversary of whose death at Imola will doubtless be marked there as emotionally as ever this weekend, achieved four straight for McLaren on two occasions, the last in 1991 when he opened the season with wins at the US GP, his home Brazilian GP, then at Imola in the San Marino GP and, finally, at Monaco. Senna went on to comfortably win the title that year, just as he triumphed in 1988 when he he won the British, German, Hungarian, and Belgian GPs in succession. No driver has achieved a quartet of wins on the bounce since world champion Max Verstappen's nine-straight, which straddled the end of the 2023 season and early last year. And four in a row has only ever been achieved by one Australian driver - the great Jack Brabham, who achieved the feat in 1966 but who'd actually gone one better than that when winning his second world title in 1960, taking victory in five successive races. THE DRIVERS WHO'VE WON FOUR OR MORE F1 GRANDS PRIX IN A ROW: * Max Verstappen - 10 in a row (2023) - (Also runs of 9 and 5) * Sebastian Vettel - 9 (2013) - (also two runs of 4) * Alberto Ascari - 7 (1952-53) * Michael Schumacher - 7 (2004) - (also runs of 6, 5 and two 4s) * Nico Rosberg - 7 (2015-16) * Jack Brabham - 5 (1960) - (Also run of 4) * Lewis Hamilton - 5 (2014 and in 2020) - (Also five runs of 4) * Jim Clark - 5 (1965) - (Also one run of 4) * Nigel Mansell - 5 (1992) * Jochen Rindt - 4 (1970) * Ayrton Senna - 4 (1988 and 1991) * Alain Prost - 4 (1993) * Damon Hill - 4 (1995-96) * Fernando Alonso - 4 (2006) * Jenson Button - 4 (2009) Oscar Piastri's extraordinary 2025 surge from McLaren support act to Formula One's leading man could take him into rarefied air this weekend at the storied Imola circuit in Italy. After three successive victories in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, the next aim for the soaring Victorian is to make it four-in-a-row at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, a run that only 15 of the sport's greatest drivers, world champions all, have ever achieved or surpassed. And of that illustrious list, only one - the late, great Ayrton Senna - ever achieved the feat for the McLaren team that the 24-year-old Aussie is currently spearheading. Senna, the 31st anniversary of whose death at Imola will doubtless be marked there as emotionally as ever this weekend, achieved four straight for McLaren on two occasions, the last in 1991 when he opened the season with wins at the US GP, his home Brazilian GP, then at Imola in the San Marino GP and, finally, at Monaco. Senna went on to comfortably win the title that year, just as he triumphed in 1988 when he he won the British, German, Hungarian, and Belgian GPs in succession. No driver has achieved a quartet of wins on the bounce since world champion Max Verstappen's nine-straight, which straddled the end of the 2023 season and early last year. And four in a row has only ever been achieved by one Australian driver - the great Jack Brabham, who achieved the feat in 1966 but who'd actually gone one better than that when winning his second world title in 1960, taking victory in five successive races. THE DRIVERS WHO'VE WON FOUR OR MORE F1 GRANDS PRIX IN A ROW: * Max Verstappen - 10 in a row (2023) - (Also runs of 9 and 5) * Sebastian Vettel - 9 (2013) - (also two runs of 4) * Alberto Ascari - 7 (1952-53) * Michael Schumacher - 7 (2004) - (also runs of 6, 5 and two 4s) * Nico Rosberg - 7 (2015-16) * Jack Brabham - 5 (1960) - (Also run of 4) * Lewis Hamilton - 5 (2014 and in 2020) - (Also five runs of 4) * Jim Clark - 5 (1965) - (Also one run of 4) * Nigel Mansell - 5 (1992) * Jochen Rindt - 4 (1970) * Ayrton Senna - 4 (1988 and 1991) * Alain Prost - 4 (1993) * Damon Hill - 4 (1995-96) * Fernando Alonso - 4 (2006) * Jenson Button - 4 (2009)
7NEWS
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- 7NEWS
F1 superstar Oscar Piastri chasing rare piece of history at Italian Grand Prix
Oscar Piastri's extraordinary 2025 surge from McLaren support act to Formula One 's leading man could take him into rarefied air this weekend at the storied Imola circuit in Italy. After three successive victories in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, the next aim for the soaring Victorian is to make it four-in-a-row at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, a run that only 15 of the sport's greatest drivers, world champions all, have ever achieved or surpassed. And of that illustrious list, only one — the late, great Ayrton Senna — ever achieved the feat for the McLaren team that the 24-year-old Aussie is currently spearheading. Senna, the 31st anniversary of whose death at Imola will doubtless be marked there as emotionally as ever this weekend, achieved four straight for McLaren on two occasions, the last in 1991 when he opened the season with wins at the US GP, his home Brazilian GP, then at Imola in the San Marino GP and, finally, at Monaco. Senna went on to comfortably win the title that year, just as he triumphed in 1988 when he he won the British, German, Hungarian, and Belgian GPs in succession. No driver has achieved a quartet of wins on the bounce since world champion Max Verstappen's nine-straight, which straddled the end of the 2023 season and early last year. And four in a row has only ever been achieved by one Australian driver - the great Jack Brabham, who achieved the feat in 1966 but who'd actually gone one better than that when winning his second world title in 1960, taking victory in five successive races. THE DRIVERS WHO'VE WON FOUR OR MORE F1 GRANDS PRIX IN A ROW: * Max Verstappen - 10 in a row (2023) - (Also runs of 9 and 5) * Sebastian Vettel - 9 (2013) - (also two runs of 4) * Alberto Ascari - 7 (1952-53) * Michael Schumacher - 7 (2004) - (also runs of 6, 5 and two 4s) * Nico Rosberg - 7 (2015-16) * Jack Brabham - 5 (1960) - (Also run of 4) * Lewis Hamilton - 5 (2014 and in 2020) - (Also five runs of 4) * Jim Clark - 5 (1965) - (Also one run of 4) * Nigel Mansell - 5 (1992) * Jochen Rindt - 4 (1970) * Ayrton Senna - 4 (1988 and 1991) * Alain Prost - 4 (1993) * Damon Hill - 4 (1995-96) * Fernando Alonso - 4 (2006) * Jenson Button - 4 (2009)
West Australian
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- West Australian
Oscar winner out to emulate Senna's four-in-a-row
Oscar Piastri's extraordinary 2025 surge from McLaren support act to Formula One's leading man could take him into rarefied air this weekend at the storied Imola circuit in Italy. After three successive victories in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, the next aim for the soaring Victorian is to make it four-in-a-row at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, a run that only 15 of the sport's greatest drivers, world champions all, have ever achieved or surpassed. And of that illustrious list, only one - the late, great Ayrton Senna - ever achieved the feat for the McLaren team that the 24-year-old Aussie is currently spearheading. Senna, the 31st anniversary of whose death at Imola will doubtless be marked there as emotionally as ever this weekend, achieved four straight for McLaren on two occasions, the last in 1991 when he opened the season with wins at the US GP, his home Brazilian GP, then at Imola in the San Marino GP and, finally, at Monaco. Senna went on to comfortably win the title that year, just as he triumphed in 1988 when he he won the British, German, Hungarian, and Belgian GPs in succession. No driver has achieved a quartet of wins on the bounce since world champion Max Verstappen's nine-straight, which straddled the end of the 2023 season and early last year. And four in a row has only ever been achieved by one Australian driver - the great Jack Brabham, who achieved the feat in 1966 but who'd actually gone one better than that when winning his second world title in 1960, taking victory in five successive races. THE DRIVERS WHO'VE WON FOUR OR MORE F1 GRANDS PRIX IN A ROW: * Max Verstappen - 10 in a row (2023) - (Also runs of 9 and 5) * Sebastian Vettel - 9 (2013) - (also two runs of 4) * Alberto Ascari - 7 (1952-53) * Michael Schumacher - 7 (2004) - (also runs of 6, 5 and two 4s) * Nico Rosberg - 7 (2015-16) * Jack Brabham - 5 (1960) - (Also run of 4) * Lewis Hamilton - 5 (2014 and in 2020) - (Also five runs of 4) * Jim Clark - 5 (1965) - (Also one run of 4) * Nigel Mansell - 5 (1992) * Jochen Rindt - 4 (1970) * Ayrton Senna - 4 (1988 and 1991) * Alain Prost - 4 (1993) * Damon Hill - 4 (1995-96) * Fernando Alonso - 4 (2006) * Jenson Button - 4 (2009)
