Max Verstappen has made this season look like a walk in the park with his near-flawless performance on the track. It seems as though he is on a clear path to securing his third consecutive championship title. The talented Dutch driver undoubtedly stands out as one of the fiercest competitors in the field. However, it’s hard to ignore his fondness for lighthearted banter, as he frequently dishes out jovial remarks aimed at fellow drivers or even himself.
Track limits have been an annoying problem for the drivers with the new car and Verstappen has also been affected by them multiple times. The 26-year-old Red Bull maverick had his own humorous take on track limits in the upcoming weekend.
Verstappen hilariously challenges others to outperform him
People often debate if the performance during a dominant championship is due to the talents of a certain driver or to the inherent nature of the car’s ability to outperform all others on track. Max Verstappen is a highly debated driver alongside other legends of Formula 1, and fandoms often clash over the simple question, Car or Driver?
Max Verstappen has taken heed of these comments, it seems, and while he was sneering at the problem of track limits, which are plaguing the drivers, he issued a playful challenge with his RB19 on the line. Max invited other drivers as a joke to try and test the track limits in his Bull and see if they could do a better job than him.
“I will happily let anyone else drive my car, and see if they can do better with track limits,” Verstappen explained to media.
“Some tracks have just a lot of runoff, so naturally you probably the limits a bit easier because we never really talk about track limits, for example, in Suzuka and that’s a bit more of an old school track.”
“The latest track standards, they have a thing to do with it and it’s a bit of a shame – because I feel like with some of these new tracks that you’re more focused on a Quali lap to not go over a white line than actually finding the limit or just the pure enjoyment of pushing.”
Max Verstappen dismisses reports of power struggles at Red Bull
Setting jokes aside, some serious troubles have recently disturbed the Red Bull Racing team. Christian Horner was the man who built this team from the ground up, and Helmut Marko’s aggressive strategy and choice of drivers have produced many Formula 1 greats, such as Sebastian Vettel.
All appeared to be well, but rumors started circulating about a rift in the relationship between Horner and Marko. These two longstanding pillars of Red Bull Racing were rumored to have differences, and according to the stories being circulated, Christian Horner was considering parting ways with Marko instead of retaining him. When asked about this situation in a press conference, Max Verstappen gave his response.
“I saw that from the outside people were trying to basically talk some BS,” the 26-year-old Dutch driver told reporters when asked about the situation ahead of the U.S. Grand Prix.
“I think the mood in the team is very good. Everyone knows exactly what their role is and of course it was sad times last year when Dietrich passed away, but we try to keep that legacy, keep moving it forward.”
“Everyone that we have right now in the team is very important to that success that we are having, so that’s why there are also no changes for the future. I think that basically explains it.”
What do you think about this new challenge, and do you think any driver will be willing to take the reigns of RB19 to prove Verstappen wrong?
