‘Not his first rodeo’ – Why Max Verstappen has psychological edge over Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Max Verstappen has experience on his side as he competes for a fifth world title.
Team bosses Jonathan Wheatley and Laurent Mekies have given their thoughts on why Max Verstappen has a psychological advantage over Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the title.
While the McLaren drivers are both searching for their maiden World Championship, Verstappen is challenging for his fifth and has been there and done it all before.
What gives Max Verstappen an edge according to those who worked with him
In the Thursday press conference, Verstappen appeared as relaxed as could be and insisted he was unfazed about any pressure that may be upon him.
As to how he was able to keep so calm, his former colleague Wheatley said “it’s not his first rodeo.”
“He’s been here before,” Wheatley said. “I think he has a coolness and a calm and I think that permeates through the team.
“If everyone in the team seems calm, starting with the driver, the team gains confidence from it.”
It was at this venue four years ago where a titleless Verstappen was facing his own experienced veteran in the form of Lewis Hamilton. Asked for how the two situations compare, Wheatley said Verstappen is a different person from then.
“I think it was a different Max, there was a hunger about him,” he said. “I think that whole season, there was a frisson of energy about the whole season.
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“There was everything that you’d want in a Formula 1 championship in terms of great rivalries on track, clashes and what have you and it came to a crescendo here. We’re looking at another crescendo on Sunday, so I’m excited.
“And I think for the sport, it’s such a great news story to have three great drivers in contention for a driver’s World Championship, and I hope I can have a bit of time to enjoy that, as well as our own race on Sunday.”
One man who will not be able to sit back and enjoy is Red Bull team principal Mekies, who is hoping to win his first title in Formula 1.
As for Verstappen, Mekies said he was a “guy who never gets it wrong.”
“Max just never, never does a mistake,” Mekies said. “He keeps surprising us every day.
“You throw him out there, sometimes the car is great. Sometimes it’s a touch less great than what we would hope and he doesn’t miss a start. He doesn’t miss tyre management. He doesn’t miss an overtaking.
“It’s just the way he is and, as Jonathan touched on earlier, it is true that it gives a lot of confidence to the whole team. It is true that it fits so well with, in general, the approach that this team has on how you go racing, taking maximum risk, accepting the pain when the risk went over the edge.
“If you think back to the 2,000 people in Milton Keynes that have been doing the magic, you know, in the shadow, in trying to get that car back to life in the second part of the year. It’s obviously that created great connections and, yes, it gives great confidence.”
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