Contractual quirks

One curious quirk of Max's reported contract situation was that if George overtook him in the standings by Hungary, then Max would have been free to take George's seat. So it was in George's interest not to overtake Max in the championship standings.

Not that I'm saying that affected George's performance at all. Even when the Mercedes has looked off the pace recently, George has been comfortably outperforming Kimi. Nevertheless, it would have been strange if George had managed to get ahead of Max, only for that to trigger Max's release clause and see him take George's seat at Mercedes.

The ten year test

When it comes to formula 1, there's inevitably a lot of debate among fans as to who are the best drivers. In fact right throughout the grid, there is discussion as to whether driver A would beat driver B if they were team-mates. As an example, I heard one fan recently claim that there isn't a single driver on the grid who would ever beat Max in the same car.

Nobody can give a definite answer to that, but when comparing two drivers, I like to use the 'ten year test'. To explain what I mean by that, imagine two drivers in the same car for ten years. What do you think the final score between the two would be?

For most drivers on the grid, as this fan kind of implied, if they were paired with Max then the score after ten years would be ten nil to Max. However, I don't think that applies to every driver on the grid. There are possibly two or three who, if they were Max's team-mate for ten years, would avoid a whitewash.

Mercedes's driver dilemma

When discussing Mercedes's drivers for next season, Toto Wolff was recently quoted as saying, "Until the summer break, everything is going to be done."

This is just a theory, but maybe Toto's statement mentions the summer break because that is when the wording of Max's reported release clause comes into effect.

Presumably Mercedes will know after the summer break whether Max's contractual release clause has been triggered. If it is, they'll sign Max for 2026. If it isn't, they'll stick with George and Kimi.

Personally, I'd love to see Max and George as team-mates for all the drama it would deliver, but all the noise seems to suggest that if Mercedes do sign Max, it will be in place of George.

GOAT man bad

I've just read the race report of the Austrian Grand Prix on the BBC website, and for a race which was dominated by McLaren, it's incredible that around half the top comments, or maybe more, are sniping at Max.

Seriously people, why can't you just give credit where credit is due? Lando drove excellent all weekend. How about focusing on that? Lando deserves his moment in the spotlight. Why can't people be positive for once, instead of letting negativity control them?

Formula 1 rules comparison with football

The Max Verstappen/George Russell controversy at the Spanish Grand Prix could all have been avoided if the stewards were still following the rules of a few years ago.

The whole controversy was caused because Red Bull had to guess what the stewards' decision would be regarding George's collision with Max at turn one. The team guessed, incorrectly, that Max would have to let George past (as it turned out, the stewards decided otherwise, because George was not in control of his car when he hit Max), and this is what angered Max causing him to get an attack of the red mist.

Under the rules of a few years ago, the stewards would have advised Red Bull, and Mercedes, that there was no need for a position swap. George would still likely have overtaken Max at some point, but Max's resultant angry move into George could have been avoided.

To go into more detail, a few years ago the stewards used to inform teams when they needed to let a driver through or give the place back. The teams had to follow this instruction, otherwise they would get a penalty. Similarly, if there was no need to swap positions, then the stewards would advise the teams of this. Now though, stewards don't advise the teams, so instead the teams have to guess what the stewards' decision will be. Given the number of variables involved in a decision, that means you have teams and drivers having to guess who was ahead at the apex (and where the apex even is), whether drivers were in control, whether they left enough room, etc. They basically have to guess the stewards' decision.

Imagine if in football you had to guess whether you were offside or not, and if you were offside but played on, you got a yellow card. It would be ridiculous. Well, that's formula 1 right now. They need to go back to the standard of a few seasons ago, when the stewards would tell the teams whether they needed to give the place back, rather than the teams having to guess.

The chink in Max Verstappen's armor

Here's my opinion on the controversy at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix involving Max Verstappen...

Verstappen/Leclerc contact: Charles moved across onto Max's line (causing contact), but Charles was entitled to because; a) he was clearly ahead, and b) he left Max space. Charles therefore did not have to give the position back, so Max was incorrect in his radio messages to his team.

Verstappen/Russell turn 1 contact: George hit Max and because George was not in control of his car, George was at fault, therefore Max did not have to give the place back.

Max's response to Leclerc contact: When Max said Charles had to give him the place back, the stewards correctly disagreed. Charles was ahead and although he moved over, he still left Max plenty of space between the edge of the track.

Max's response to Russell contact: Max was understandably angry at his team for telling him to let George pass, because George was the one at fault (Max was ahead when George hit him), so there was no need to switch positions (as later confirmed by the stewards). However, if Max disagreed with the instruction, he should have made his case to his team, then ignored the instruction, rather than slide into the side of George when he was letting him past.

By sliding into George, Max has cost himself 9 points which could prove costly at the end of the season. His anger should have directed at his own team, rather than at George.

Virtually every race has a controversial decision from the stewards which divides opinion, so a formula 1 driver will inevitably feel angry at times. However, when a decision (or team advice) goes against you, you need to control your anger, rather than let your anger control you. Max is clearly an exceptionally brilliant driver, but arguably the one chink in his armor is his composure.