“Max was probably a bit out of order in Brazil in truth” : Adrian Newey believes Max Verstappen was lucky to avoid penalty during Lewis Hamilton battle in 2021
In one of the most memorable encounters in the past decade of F1, it was down to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to claim the crown of world champion in 2021. Controversies aside, this matchup was historic for many ways, as it began the dominance of the Dutchman and RBR.
The Dutchman convincingly began his reign of terror in 2022, and is now a three-time world champion, with signs of clinching his fourth straight championship looking very likely.
Although, recently it has been come to knowledge by Red Bull’s CTO, that Verstappen’s first championship could have been a hit or miss, as the 26-year-old showed signs of breaking down that year, much more than he did in his future seasons, courtesy of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.
“Mercedes managed to find quite a lot more pace out of their car towards the end of the season” : Adrian Newey
Adrian Newey is a highly influential figure in the world of F1 who is renowned for his aerodynamic efficiency, and has worked with several top teams like McLaren, Williams and currently Red Bull Racing; while he will be switching to Aston Martin next season. The Briton has worked very closely with the Dutchman for the past few seasons, and was asked on the ‘High Performance Podcast’ about whether or not Verstappen was ever unable to hold up his nerves during the races.
“I think a little bit perhaps in his championship win in ’21. Where the intensity, particularly after Silverstone, on track, between Lewis and Max became so intense, I think Max had very strong feelings on that Silverstone accident,” said Newey.
“And of course, he’d been clear championship leader going into Silverstone, then him out of the race, and then more or less out of the race in Hungary, when he got hit by Valtteri [Bottas], not intentional at all, but still got hit and pretty much hardly scored any points, so gone from easy championship leaders to now feeling a bit more pressure. And Mercedes managed to find quite a lot more pace out of their car towards the end of the season,” the 65-year-old added.
The Briton also admitted how Max Verstappen was feeling to get threatened and pressurized by the Silver Arrows’ resurgence late in the season, which led him to make some mistakes, although, was lucky not to receive any major penalties, especially in Brazil where Lewis Hamilton overtook him to win the race.
“So, it’s always easier for the hunter than the hunted. And Max was starting, I think, to just feel a little bit of pressure from the hunted. And hence that, he was, in reality, probably lucky not to get a penalty for his driving in Brazil. Saudi, where they had a bit of a dingdong, that was a little bit more… I think that was not clear, but Max was probably a bit out of order in Brazil in truth, so I think he was feeling it a bit,” explained Red Bull’s CTO.
While the gap has certainly thinned down a bit in the current F1 season with teams like McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes catching up to Red Bull Racing quicker than before, there seems to be no doubt that Verstappen and RBR will not be giving up their throne that easily. The Dutchman currently holds a 62-point lead over McLaren’s Lando Norris in the Drivers’ standings, and is on his way to claim title no.4 soon.
