Ooo ! I couldn’t possibly say
I presumably am “a dutch colleague” who has been enjoying the sport way before even MV’s dad became a F1 driver. And supporting his dad was surely never a “fair weather fan” issue…
The thing is that it is terribly dangerous with the current regulations. And when a race engineer is telling a driver the strategy on how to overtake, driver skills are out of the window. Gladly Max is still capable of showing his talent in GT3 where he smashes the competition, whilst be a “junior” that is stille figuring out how to go about a drivers change with the seats and belts and all…
I think he has proven to be an exceptional driver allready, and as such, i like to seem him drive, just like i love Kimi Antonelli, the sheer joy and love for the sports are eminent with him as well. Beter than that cry baby GR, whom i really dislike, being all cry baby about a safety car deployment and how that ruined his race. Get used to it, you’ll be a second driver for the remainder of your career (Allthough i was impressed with his consistency last year).
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Pretty sure he would appreciate the win, and still he would have complaints about the current rule set. He would have spoken his concern on the issue casing the horrendous crash of OB in the post race interview for sure… But i am sure haters are going to hate…
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Of that I’m sure, but don’t include me in that group, I’m no fan of his ‘personality’, but he’s entertaining on & off the track.
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RedBull is struggling since last season .. and this year seems worse .. yes he’s a great driver..
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This kid is up and coming.. very consistent pace . Good that Toto discovered him 
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Sir Jackie was a speaker at a conference I attended many a year back, there was a Q&A session at the end and this question was asked (can’t remember the exact words but along the lines of..);
What’s the best way to come into a corner and get out the other side fast
SJS replied, the key is to brake before he corner, change down, turn in and at the apex start to press the go fast pedal as soon as the car is straight floor it, this way you’ll come out the other side moving very quickly. Come in too fast and you’ll come out the other side like a snail.
It was a great motivation speech, a really nice guy.
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Max is a talented driver for sure and has the arrogance that you prob need to compete at that level but he is no sportsman and that’s why he attracts the hate.
Complaining about the format when you are loosing sums him up really.
Whenever there is a rule change it takes a while to settle down so a little time is needed.
We’ll see how it develops over the first half of the season.
Please inlighten me, why is he no “sportsman”? He has allready stated in 2023 after the Austrian Grand Prix, in a first simulation of this ruleset that it was hard to believe that it would work, even more likely that it would be dangerous. So his opinion is not solely depending on the poor result of the Redbull.
And indeed time is needed, but the first outlook, especially with accidents like that of OB somethings gotta give, and soon. I personally think MV has allready on beforehand considdered 2026 to be a year of contemplation, given that RB are only now really evaluating their new engine, and it’s behaviour in the complete package. Because the correlation issue has still not been resolved.
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Choosing to follow team orders when it suits him and not when it doesn’t - Perez and Sainz incidents spring to mind which show he is not sportsman.
I acknowledge he is a great driver and you need to be arrogant to a degree to be a winner in this sport but the way he goes about things and especially the Prerez incident shows his real character. He had already won the tittle when he cheated Perez so there was no need for it….
I suspect that’s why he gets the hate and if he was winning races I suspect he would not be complaining as he is now….
- The Radio: When asked “what happened,” he replied: “I told you already last summer. You guys don’t ask that again to me, ok? Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it”.
- The Fallout: Perez famously responded on the radio: “It shows who he really is”.
MV has never followed teamorders and has been consistent in that matter throughout his career, so that is hardly bad sportsmanship if you ask me. True he could have helped teammates more often, on the other hand, he gave credit where and when credit was due.
But i assume for you, MV triggers something, just like i am somewhat triggered by GR.
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I think the sport needs characters like Max and absolutely think he’s in the conversation for one of the greatest drivers.
Re the incident Perez had already let max through under the agreement they would swap back (Max had already won the title) he choose to benefit from team orders but then to not swap back was bad sportsmanship. I would have said the same thing of any driver that did that.
I don’t follow / support any driver, I just like to see good motor racing at the highest level. It’s exciting to see young talented drivers come through like KA and for what it’s worth Max’s second half of last season was barn storming and showed why he is a great driver.
Max just wants to win and the fact he’s not I think he’s being a little disingenuous towards the new regs. He should get on with making them work for him
They have a little time off to study the safety aspect and we’ll see how the season develops.
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I can where you’re coming from, but specifically on this I don’t think you’re correct. For one, he was mentioning it last year already, he was mentioning it in Bahrein when in the first days it looked like RedBull would be contenders. He might not be the best team player, but he is (brutally) honest about these kinds of things. He would be complaining if he was in the Mercedes as well, I’m sure of it.
Remember also how the previous to last year he was complaining about the RedBull even when it was (still) winning.
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Thank you for writing this, I couldn’t agree with you more. I am British and find him far more agreeable than any of the current British drivers. I cannot understand why a small group on here do not understand how bad this current F1 format and instead criticise him for stating how dreadful it is and he did so since 2023.
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It appears Gianpiero Lambiase is leaving Red Bull at the end of his contract and heading to McLaren to take up a senior management position supporting Andrea Stella at race weekends by assuming some of the Team Principal duties.
in anticipation of an early retirement by MV? Silly season starts soon this year…
I think the rumour is that Andrea Stella will be going to Ferrari. Lambiase might be replacing, not supporting, him.
We are having an extra silly season due to the actions of some. I think GPs potentially moving has been rumbling on for a around a year. He has been connected with several possible moves for a while now. How it may or may not impact on Max’s decisions remains to be seen.
Well MV, has often and earlier stated that he would not work with anybody as his race engineer other than GP. Rumour has he is not going to propose to kelly prior to his retirement, because he has compared his relationship with GP as similar to a marriage.
He’s probably going to leave Red Bull next year. Whether that includes f1 remains to be seen. I think when they modify to energy harvesting rules such that drivers skill will be more prominent he’ll stay. Then again… not so long ago there was an era in which simply having the best engine would guarantee a championship 
Not that much has changed other than going fast in a corner is no longer required.
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